Five Little Monkeys in a Kingdom of Magic
by bamboo72498
Summary: Castle family summer vacation. Fifth in the series. The kids are five years old. Cover art credit to Angie (@Dtrekker on Twitter)
1. January

**Well here it is: the long awaited summer project i've been talking about. I think it's gonna be a fun one! A new chapter every week. Hope you guys enjoy!**

 **Disclamor: they are not mine. I just borrow them sometimes.**

* * *

An Artic Front had made its way across the country, and had finally reached the East Coast two nights ago dumping about six inches of snow in its path. Manhattan had turned into a tundra– the temperature not going above thirty – for the past three days.

If things had gone according to plan, they would be sitting on a beach in sunny Florida: a romantic week away, leaving the kids with their grandparents; no worries, just time for them to relax and be together. But because of work obligations and a sickness that's been terrorizing their house for the past two weeks, their trip was canceled. Postponed, really; he still wants to get to Florida this year, come hell or high water.

So here he is: pulling out of his kids' pre-school parking lot, on his way to work, when he should be squishing his toes in soft, warm beach sand. Even with the heat turned all the way up, the cold still manages to seep in.

God he hates January.

Traffic on the roads is a nightmare; almost always is. Stop and go as far as he can see. Those flashing signs the city puts out for roadwork dot the streets, evenly spaced out, warning travelers of the icy road conditions and to 'dive with caution.'

He sighs, runs a hand over his face as he misses yet another light. When it changes and they start to move at a decent speed for the weather outside, he thanks the holy being that blessed the people in front of him with the ability to drive. Unfortunately, it doesn't last long and a minute later he's slamming on his breaks and watching as the guy two cars ahead of him narrowly misses rear-ending the car in front of him.

"Come on!" he shouts, slamming his hands into the steering wheel.

[] []

"Hey girl," Lanie acknowledges, watching as her friend enters the morgue, and unties the belt on her jacket. "Feeling any better?"

"A little," Kate replies, her voice froggy, her nose Rudolph red. She had ended up with the cold that's been going around their house a few days ago and is still feeling it's effects.

"Mhmm," Lanie murmurs, seeing right through the façade her friend put up. Kate throws the medical examiner a look that says 'I am too sick to deal with this today, just get on with it.'

"Anyway," Lanie continues. "I ran some tests, and this wasn't a homicide."

"How do you know?" Kate asks, her voice squeaking at the end.

"Your guy had AIDS. He died of pneumonia two days ago. I'm guessing whoever found him didn't know and thought someone had murdered him after seeing the blood he coughed up on his blankets."

"You mean-"Kate starts, looking up as her friend smiles and nods.

"Yup: we can _all_ go home early," Lanie says, walking over to her desk and starting to collect her things.

"Oh thank god," Kate sighs, sniffling. She waits for Lanie to finish before following her friend down the hall and to the elevator. The two ride to the parking garage, the heels of their boots echoing off the concrete.

"I'm gonna call the boys, let them know what's up," Kate says.

"Okay," Lanie nods. "And if you talk to him, remind Javi I'm picking up the girls today. Don't want him thinking he has to pick them up, when I already did and freaking out when they aren't there."

"I will, don't worry," Kate replies. "Give the girls a hug for me," she finishes, turning left as her friend goes right, each to their separate cars. She unlocks the door, and slides in, starting the engine the second she gets a chance. Somehow, the parking garage inside is at least ten degrees colder than the air outside. Once she starts feeling hot air coming from the vents, Kate starts moving, going up the ramp and out onto the street before calling Ryan and Esposito. She fills them in on what Lanie had said, and reminds Javier that his wife is collecting their daughters from their babysitter's. And as there is only a few hours left in their workday, and they hadn't caught an actual case yet, Kate sends them home early.

She turns onto the highway, and the drive home that normally takes her nearly an hour to make every other day of the week, only take her twenty minutes. As she turns into their neighborhood, she chuckles to herself, liking this 'coming home in the middle of the day' thing. She passes by school busses dropping off their kids, mostly middle and high school as the elementary schools aren't out for another hour. Kate sees one girl in particular, who sets off down the road after getting off the bus. She's with two other girls and is talking and laughing with them. The girl has long black hair, and glasses; she walks with her head down, eyes trained at her feet. Her navy blue backpack is rounded out past her body; it looks heavy, probably carrying a set of textbooks that weigh five ponds on their own. At the next intersection, the group of friends separates: two of the girls going right, while the third, the one with the glasses, continues heading straight. Kate watches as long as she can, but soon passes the girl.

Turning down her street, Kate sighs wistfully. Come fall, it will be her kids getting off the school bus to finish the walk home, talking about their day with their siblings, or gossiping with friends as they make plans to finish their homework as fast as they can so they can get outside to play as fast as possible. Finally she pulls into her driveway, and hits the garage door opener clipped to the sun visor above her head.

[] []

"Kate? Kate, it's three o'clock," She wakes up, pushing a mass of hair out of her face, feeling the static buzzing in her hand that had fallen asleep. She wiggles her fingers, trying to get the feeling to go away, still lying on her side, looking at her husband.

"Oh god," she sighs. "I was only going to close my eyes for a minute."

When she had arrived home, which to her felt only like a few minute ago but was really two, almost three hours, she had said hello to Rick, grabbed some water and gone to bed, making a deal with herself to only sleep for just a minute.

"Yes I know," Rick chuckles. "I came up to check on you and you were dead to the world."

"And you didn't think to wake me up?"

"Well you had been up all last night and then got up early this morning and we've all be sick lately, I thought you could use it."

"Thanks," she says, pushing the covers back and standing. She kisses Rick's cheek before heading into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Kate cleans herself up: removing the eyeliner that magically moved from her eyelid to the corner of her mouth, and quickly throws her hair up into a pony tail to get it off her face. When she comes out, Castle is gone, and the winter darkness is starting to set in, tossing shadows across the room. As a little girl, this sight would have scared her and she would have run from the dark room into the light of the hallway lest the shadow monster get her. She forgoes putting her heeled boots back on and instead ties on sneakers before leaving to pick up her kids from school.

[] []

Both pre-k classes are sitting out in the hallway wait to be picked up when Kate arrives. It's the same scene every weekday, the same organized chaos. Thirty four, five, and six year olds generate a lot of noise, especially when confined to suck a small space. They are not sitting in a straight line either: groups of friends are sitting together, various kid sitting in front of their friends make tiny hills in the line. Kate nearly trips over one boy who is lying out in the middle of the hallway lost in a game of pretend with his friends. She steps over the child, and listens as he gets scolded by his teacher.

All five of her kids have spotted her by now and are jumping up and gathering their coats and backpacks. Kate signs them out on the clipboards for their respective classes, the five kids are divided three and two between the two classes (Miyana, Finn, and Austin in one, and Danielle and Liam in the other), and accepts five hugs and calls of 'hi, mommy.' The kids call good bye to friends and teacher as they head out, and Kate makes them stop and put on their coats before they step outside.

Finally everyone is buckled into the car, and Kate is being blasted with stories about her kids' day.

"And mommy," Finn begins. "we played with instruments in music class today and there was this one where we got to bang it on the ground and it made a noise if it was bigger or smaller."

"Really?" Kate replies, pulling into traffic.

"Yeah and I played a purple one that was really little and it made a high sound like this," Finn finishes, her voice hitting a high octave on the end.

"Well I'm glad you had fun," Kate says looking at her daughter through the rearview mirror and sharing a smile with the child.

They make the rounds dropping Danielle off at cheerleading practice and Austin and Liam off at indoor soccer practice. Kate and the other two girls wait on the bleachers watching their brothers go through practice and a scrimmage game before leaving to pick up their sister.

Danielle was very excited to show off the back hand spring she had been working on getting. She stood at the top of a slanted mat, a coach behind her with a hand on the small of her back. Dani squats down and then pushes off and flips. She lands on her feet on the other side, a wide smiles covering her face. She runs to Kate with arms wide and crashes into her mom in a hug.

Kate breaks the hug and takes her daughter's face in her hands, "I am so proud of you," she smiles at Danielle, hers not coming close to the smile still crossing her daughter's face. "Come on, let's go home and tell Daddy all about it." They grab Dani's bag out of her locker and Kate sends the girl into the bathroom to change and ten minutes they are all on their way home.

[] []

"Mommy!"

It was that time of day. The time a lot of parents dread: the time between snack time and dinner being ready. Everyone is tired and crabby, and picking fights with each other; ready to start the night time routine of dinner, bath, story, bed.

Rick and Kate had had to break up more than their fair share of fights, and finally decided to separate the kids and disperse the tangible tension in the house. They send Mia and Finn downstairs, and keep the boys in the living room, both with cartoons on. Danielle went up to her room, the introverted little girl needing some time by herself to decompress.

He watches over the breakfast bar as his sick wife watches Teen Titans with their sons

The gloomy winter weather and the sickness going around make the need for comfort food that much more. On tonight's menu is tuna melts and French fries, a favorite of Kate's from childhood. Surprisingly, Rick had never had the grilled sandwich before in his life; he never liked the taste of tuna. But after Kate's dad had made it for them one night about a year after they had started dating, he found that he loved it and pestered Jim for the recipe. Mr. Beckett vowed to never give away his secrets telling Rick, "some things need to stay in the family, son." Since that night, Rick has made the dinner loads of times, each time not getting the exact same flavor as when Jim has made them. But according to Kate, he had come close a time or two.

"You want to go get the kids? It's almost ready," He directs her.

"Boys, go sit down, time to eat," Kate tells her sons and the two run to their spots at the dinner table. She calls up the stairs to Danielle before doing the same at the basement door. Danielle arrives first, Finn next and Miyana brings up the rear, twirling as she walks; dancing to the music in her head, her chocolate brown hair fanning out around her, ending up partly in her face. She pushes it back, tucking it behind her ear before digging into her cut up sandwich.

"Do you want me to bring it down to you or are you going to eat at the table," Castle asks, looking over at Kate who had returned to her original place on the couch.

"I'll eat it here," she says, the day catching up to her despite her nap earlier.

"Okay." He brings a plate down to her, and smirks as she take it.

"You cut it up?" she questions, looking at the triangle shaped halves of her dinner; exactly the same as the kids.

"Figured it might be easier to eat that way," he shrugs.

"Or you thought I might spill it so you tried to lessen that from happening," she breathes out, shaking her head.

"Can I eat on the couch?" Liam pipes up, a fry in his hand.

"No," both parents answer. The preschooler groans but continues eating.

"Go eat," Kate murmurs to Castle, noticing his lack of food in hand.

"I will," he nods, looking around at her and the kids again.

"Babe, we're fine, go eat," she orders, raising an eyebrow. He relents, going to get his plate and sit down with the kids. He listens to their stories from school and Danielle reiterates her recent accomplishment to him, even thought she had already told him about it when Kate and the kids had gotten home a few hours ago. The ice in his stomach warms as he remember that the days of toddlers in food therapy who had a risk of choking as they ate, are long gone.

And aside from a spilled cup of milk: dinner and its resulting clean up continue as normal.

[] []

With all the kids in bed, mom and dad retreat to their bedroom, deciding themselves to take an early night. He's reading when she comes in from the bathroom, rubbing lotion into her arms and hands. Kate sighs while crawling under the covers, cuddling close to her husband as he raises his arm over her head. She lays on his chest, his hand rubbing her shoulder and upper arm.

"Was this a bad idea?" He asks, the book still open in his hand, but not being read anymore.

"Was what a bad idea?"

"Thinking we could take a trip. I mean it's crazy and we've both been doing it for five years. I don't think I can subject out parents to it for a whole week."

"But that's what grandparents are for: to take the kids for some time, they are designed to handle small amounts of crazy.

"Yeah," he nods, though she's not sure he comprehended what she said.

"Tell you what: if we haven't gone to Florida by the kids' birthday, we'll come up with another plan, okay?"

"Okay," he says, meeting her eyes. By the kids' birthday. One month. A lot can change and a lot can happen in a month.


	2. February

**Excuses, Excuses; I'm a horrible person. I know. Trying to get back on tack after a horrible few weeks. please don't hate me. Any spelling/Grammar stuff you see is all mine and i'm sorry.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Disclamor: Not mine, just borrow them sometimes.**

* * *

"Happy birthday!" Castle cheers, walking past the bar where his kids are seated, watching their mom eagerly, ready to start their project. "Good morning," he says to Kate, accepting a kiss from her. "What are you guys up too?"

"Making cupcakes!" Miyana cheers while she holds her long brown hair back with a hand.

"Oh yeah. You're bringing them to school today, right?" Castle asks, coming around the counter and tying his daughter's hair back with a loose hair band that just so happened to be sitting on the counter.

"Yeah! They are gonna be the best!" The five year old smiles.

For the first, of what will be many, time the kids' birthday fell on a weekday and as they will be in school they were bringing in cupcakes to celebrate with their classmates. Of course the mix came from a box and the frosting from a can, but it was the thought that counted.

"Alright," Kate says, setting the last of the tools and ingredients onto the counter. "Finn, cut this open and pour it into the bowl, okay?" She instructs the child to her left. The kids had picked out both chocolate and vanilla flavors and the plan was to send half of each to both of their classes.

Finn cuts open the package of chocolate mix and dumps the contents into the mixing bowl in front of her. She leans over and breathes deep once the package is empty.

"It smells good," she smiles.

"Yeah it does," Kate agrees. "Okay, Liam," She says turning to the next kid in line. "We need two thirds of a cup of oil, which is two of these guys," Kate explains, holding up the corresponding measuring cup. "Think you can do that?"

"Uh huh," Liam nods, picking up the bottle of oil in one hand and the measuring cup in the other. He tries for a minute to hold both and pour at the same time, but after a moment, looks up to him mom.

"Need help?" Kate offers, reaching for the oil. "How about I pour and you hold?" At Liam's nod, Kate uncaps the bottle and tips it watching the liquid slide out. "That's one." She stops and lets her son dump it into the bowl. "And two," she finishes, screwing the cap back on as Liam taps the measuring cup on the side of the bowl to get all the oil out.

Danielle, knowing her turn comes next, snags the glass measuring cup, sloshing water all over and she slides it towards her.

"Okay, slow down there," Kate says, grabbing a towel to sop up the water her daughter had spilled. "Alright, go ahead." Danielle dups the already measured water into the bowl, watching as it wet the parts of the mix the oil hadn't reached yet.

The remaining two kids got first go at mixing the concoction and managed to do so without getting all over, which has happened in the past.

Kate sets the bowl aside and grabs and empty one for the second batter. They mix the vanilla batter the same way they did to the chocolate, but go in reverse order so the ones who didn't get a chance to add ingredients the first time around get their chance.

Once both batches of cupcakes have been doled out into liners and the pans have been slid into the hot oven, where the five five-year olds were a safe distance away, Kate sends her kids off to finish getting ready for school.

[] []

Finally they get everyone in the car with everything they need for the day and off to school.

"Bye mommy," Danielle says, standing in the doorway to her classroom, she stands on tiptoe to kiss her mom's cheek.

"Bye Dani, be good today, alright? I don't want to find out you had to pull a green card again because you weren't listening," Kate reminds her daughter, giving her a one armed hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"I will. Love you."

"Love you too."

"Don't forget momma," Liam says with a hug.

"I won't; I'll meet you here at lunch, okay?"

"Okay," her son smiles. One of his classmates calls for him and a second later he's off.

Kate gets home from dropping off her kids, and her entire house smells amazing; sugary sweet, and warm.

"Smells great in here," she comments, eyeing the pile of cupcakes cooling on wire racks on the stove.

Castle's muffled voice comes from his office and Kate follows it to his office, the door half closed. She slips through the crack, stopping just inside the room. He's facing the window, back to the door, reclined in his chair. His cellphone is on speaker a he types away on his laptop, trying to keep the click of the keys as quiet as possible so he can still hear whomever is on the other end.

" _If you can get me exact numbers ASAP, then I'm sure we can get it set up_ ," the woman on the other line says.

"Great! Thanks, Karen, you're the greatest! I'll e-mail you that info soon."

The call ends and Castle reaches a hand over to lock his phone, pecking at his keyboard with one finger for a minute as he does so.

"Who was that?" Kate asks. Castle startles at her voice, oblivious that she had been standing there.

"Hey. Oh that was nothing," he shrugs. Kate sighs, raising an eyebrow, but lets the obvious lie slide

"You think those cupcakes are cool enough to decorate?"

"Um they might be, why?" he asks, still typing away, writing a new chapter or book research, she can't tell.

"Just wanted to make sure we have some time," she shrugs, throwing him a coy smile that he catches as he looks up finally.

[] []

Three hours later Castle and Beckett arrive back at their kids' school, pans of cupcakes in hand. Both flavors had white icing, but the chocolate ones had M&M's on top and the vanilla was topped with a cherry, like an ice cream sundae. They check in at the desk, putting a visitor sticker onto the front of their shirts. The kind ladies who work the front desk take their share of the treat before Rick and Kate head down the hall to their kids' classrooms.

Miyana, Austin, and Finn's class is eating lunch, perfect timing, as they sneak in. Castle sets the pan on an empty counter as Kate talks to the teacher, Ms. Abby, and remind her that they are there.

"Okay," Ms. Abby announces. "If you are done eating: throw your trash away and put your cup and plate into the bucket." There is a rush of movement as the kids finish their lunch and do as their teacher told them too before returning to their seats. Austin helps his sister in putting her dishes away even though she can do it on her own. Finn thanks him with a smile as he retakes his seat next to her and a little boy named Benjamin.

"Momma!" Miyana shouts, getting out of her seat and scampering over to her. She hugs Kate at the knees before reaching around her for the cupcakes.

Kate smacks her hand away and Mia yelps. "Wait a minute," Kate directs, putting her arm around Mia's shoulders to hold her in place. The other two have noticed their sister and parents and have made their way over as well.

Ms. Abby laughs and gets her class' attention back. "So since it is Miyana, Austin and Finn's birthday, they brought cupcakes for us." The class erupts in excited chatter and Kate has got to admit that it's rather cute. "Okay," Abby continues, quieting the class. "There are two flavors: chocolate and vanilla. Mr and Mrs. Castle and I are gonna come around and give you a napkin and a cupcake, okay?" she questions and gets seventeen nods in return. "So if you want vanilla: touch your nose and if you want chocolate: put your hands on your head." The kids do as they are told, giggling and talking as they look around at their friends and what flavor they picked.

Cupcakes and napkins are passed out, and the Happy Birthday song is sung with silly interjections from the pre-schoolers, and finally everyone is happily eating and talking. Rick and Kate take the opportunity to walk across the hall to the other class to hand out their share of cupcakes.

Danielle and Liam take the lead and pass out the cupcakes to their classmates, and it goes off quite well. Only one kid cries because he didn't get the flavor he wanted. But his teacher reminded him of the age old saying: 'you get what you get, and you don't throw a fit.' It seems to work because after he calms down, he enjoys the cupcake with everyone else.

After helping to clean up and saying good bye to their kids, Rick and Kate head home, tossing the empty foil pans into the trashcan as they walk across the parking lot to their car.

[] []

"Okay: in," Kate says, opening the door and pushing her kids inside the restaurant. She's got three; Castle has one. One?

She does a silent head count. Yep: four.

"Castle," she starts, standing in the air lock between the two sets of doors. "Do you have Mia with you?" He husband looks around him, turning in a circle before looking up at Kate, worried.

"No." he says. "Nemo, go with mommy," he directs their youngest before turning and re-tracing his steps. He rounds a corner and finds the child in question squatting on the ground, looking at something. "Mia? What are you doing?" he asks, walking up to her.

"Dad!" she shouts, holding up a hand. "You're gonna squish it!"

"Squish what?" he looks down, moving so he's not blocking the street lamp shining on them.

"The cat tracks!" Miyana says enthusiastically. And sure enough in the snow covered sidewalk there is a trail of tracks leading from the bushes to their left to the grassy berm on their right and down to the greenbelt behind the restaurant.

"They're kind of cool, huh?" he asks. "Do you think it might have been Scratch who made them? Maybe he's trying to find you to say happy birthday!" Castle smiles, remembering the stray cat that wandered their neighborhood last fall.

"No I don't think so," Mia says, knowing. "He doesn't like the cold," she says shaking her head.

"Ah, right. How could I forget that?" he chuckles, acting dumb for his daughter. "Come on, it's cold out here and Alexis and Max are waiting for us," Castle directs, starting to move.

"But," Miyana sighs, staring wistfully at the tracks.

Castle smiles, and pulls out his cell phone. He unlocks it and turns on the flashlight so he can see before snapping a picture. Mia grins at her dad, standing and stepping over the tracks so as not to ruin them. She grabs her dad's hand and the two finally enter the warm restaurant.

"Thank you," she says, leaning her head on his bicep as Castle opens the door for them.

"Anytime, kiddo," he says, leading her inside first. The girl manning the reception desk smiles at them. "Hey," Castle says, "We have a group already here."

"Sure," the girl smiles. "I'll take you to them," she turns and leads them around a corner into the main dining room. "So are you guys here for something special?" She asks, making small talk as they walk.

"It's my birthday!" Mia cheers.

"Oh really? Happy birthday!" the girl smiles as the reach their party. "Have a good night," she nods to them before turning and walking away.

"Thanks," Castle nods. "Slide in, Mia," He says, pulling out a chair next to Kate as Mia gets into the booth across from him, next to her siblings. Kate throws him a look as he sits. He's on the right end, Kate to his left, Max next to her and Alexis down on the left; the quints all in a line across from the adults. Everyone is sipping on drinks, and their waiter comes around to take the last two party members' orders.

"Where was she?" she asks about Miyana.

"Tracking a wild cat," Castle smiles, to which Kate raises and eyebrow in question. Castle shows her the photo on his cell phone and she laughs, shaking her head; their crazy daughter. Just like her dad sometimes: curious and inquisitive.

The dining room is filled with voices all overlapping one another, and the Castle family is no exception. The littles are excited to see their older sister and almost-brother-in-law, whom they haven't seen in nearly a month due to one being in their final year of medical school, and gearing up to start their internship in the fall, and the other in the midst of his residency. Neither of which allow much time off.

"So are you guys excited for you trip?" Max asks to which Rick and Kate nod happily, smiles on both of their faces. Arrangements had been made, schedules had been cleared and the parents were finally getting a break. A week away to relax and recuperate. Catch their breath.

They are leaving on Monday morning, following the kids' birthday party on Saturday, directly after dropping their kiddos off at school.

"I'm so excited," Kate says with a laugh. "Does that sound bad? That I'm excited to be away from my kids?"

"No!" Alexis announces. "You deserve it!" she smiles. Kate returns the gesture before answering her son's call. They all decide of what to eat for dinner and soon their waiter comes around to get their orders once more.

"And for you?" The brunet man, named Jimmy, asks, looking at Finn. The girl shrinks in her seat for a beat, getting suddenly shy.

"Go on, Nemo," Kate encourages.

"I want chicken fingers," she says, sitting up, gaining a little confidence.

"Alright," Jimmy says marking it down on her pad. "Do you want fries? Fruit? Veggies? What side?"

"Fruit," Finn smiles, looking first at her mom, who winks, then at the waiter.

"Alright, I'll have that out to you soon," he smiles then turns and walks away to deliver their order.

"You can share some of my fries, okay?" Kate asks Finn, the girl back to her menu, trying to find all the words in the word search puzzle.

"Okay," she replies, circling a word, gasping. "Mommy, look!"

"I see! Good job girlie girl," Kate smiles, meeting her daughter's eyes.

Max is engaged in a tie-breaking round of tic-tac-toe with Austin when their food comes. The server distributes their meals, setting plates and baskets in front of its respective diners. "Anything else I can get you?" She asks sweetly.

"No, I think we're good," Max nods. "Thanks." The server nods once more then walks away.

"Careful, it's hot," Kate says, eyeing the quints as they immediately jump into their dinner; each one ordered completely different food, as Kate knew they would. "Break them open, it will cool down faster," she says, taking Finn's plate and opening her chicken finger, watching as steam billows out.

Castle handles the two nearest him, making sure they're careful and that their food is cooling off. He reminds Miyana to blow on her bites of macaroni and cheese to cool it before eating. Finally, once his kids are set, he finally gets to tear into his bacon cheese burger.

The table falls to almost silence as they eat, only small conversations take place between bites. One of which is Alexis and Max's impending wedding.

"So you're parents are flying up still, yeah?" Kate asks, turning to max right as he takes a bit. Kate giggles and apologizes, waiting for him to swallow.

"Yeah they are," he nods, "And they told me to thank them for the offer to stay with you guys that weekend, but they said no. They're too polite to accept something like that, so they are just gonna stay at the hotel with everyone else," Max says, his southern accent, that is usually not as noticeable, coming to the front with his words.

"Oh ok," Kate nods. "Well tell them they are welcome anytime."

"I will," he replies, picking up his food again.

When there is nothing left but scraps and stubby end pieces, birthday desserts are brought out and once again the Happy Birthday song is sung. All five quints eat it up, smiles not leaving their faces.

"Happy birthday," Kate says into Danielle's ear. The girl had moved into her lap sometime during the meal, and is now eating her treat happily, spreading chocolate sauce all over her lips.

It's hard for her to wrap her head around. Five years. These kids; these funny, smart, kind, loving, silly, strong kids have been in her life for five years. The tiny born to early babies, who fit in the palm of her hand, are now running around playing with friends, fighting with their siblings, doing their activities. She can't believe it.

"I love you," she says, leaning into Castle's space, kissing his cheek.

"I love you too," he smiles, that eye crinkling girl, leaning down to kiss her lips.

Five years.

"Oh! We have presents!" That gets the kids' attention again. Alexis laughs, pulling out five wrapped packages. She hands them out to the kids; the boys' and girls' wrapped differently, but hold the exact same gift to reduce fighting as much as possible.

"Whoa!" Austin cheers. "Nerf guns! Dad, look!" He says holding up his new 'Zombie Strike' camouflage gun. There is smaller pistol in the package along with a set of extra bullets, as they get lost rather quickly. "Thank you Lexie!" he smiles.

"You ar very welcome buddy," she returns the smile.

"Hey Austin," Max calls amidst the commotion of opening presents. "You guys owe me a nerf war, alright?"

"You're on!" Austin nods, accepting the challenge.

"Thank you Lexie!" Danielle says, jumping off her mom's lap to hug her older sister, new toy still in hand.

"Oh you're welcome. You like them?" She asks, taking hold of the package.

"Yeah," Dani nods. "It's really cool."

The girls also got a pistol and a pack of bullets, but unlike the boys, they got a cross bow from the 'Nerf Strike' collection. Marketed towards girl so they can finally have their own weapons to use instead of using the boys' all the time; not that those don't work, but sometimes a girl just needs something different, something unexpected.

The gifts are collected back in the large gift bag thy came in so they don't get lost or messed up before arriving home. Last bites of dessert are eaten and a trip to the bathroom is made before everyone gathers their coats and purses and heads back out to the car.

"Bye Nemo," Alexis says, hugging her youngest sister. I'll see you soon, okay?"

"Okay," Finn says, hugging Lexie once more before getting into the car and buckling herself in.

"Alright guys, drive safe, okay?" Rick says, hugging his daughter and shaking hands with his son-in-law.

"We will," Alexis says. "Love you."

"Love you too. Bye," Rick says, before turning to the driver's seat.

"Bye!" Kate calls, closing her door, to keep the frozen February air out as the heaters get turned on and they head home, everyone tired and happy after a great birthday.


	3. March

**A/N: i'm Back! Things have been pretty crazy around here, but that is no excuse. I promised a chapter every week, and I broke that promise. I'm sorry. Hopefully I'll be able to catch up to where I'm supposed to be. Anyway.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Disclamor: Not mine; just borrow them sometimes.**

* * *

"Run, Liam!" Finn shouts, cheering on her brother. She's sitting on a blanket in front of her dad watching both of her brothers chase the soccer ball across the field. It's their second game of the season, and their team, The Rebels, is losing. The tiny girl hopes that if she cheers loud enough, Austin and Liam's team may score a goal.

The ball goes out of bounds and Liam tosses it in, but has to redo it because he lifted up his foot.

"Keep your foot on the ground," his coach reminds him a second before Liam makes the toss and the game continues.

"Hey," Kate says coming up behind her husband sitting in the folding chair just off the sideline of the soccer field. She kisses his cheek before slipping off the carrying case of the second chair, unfolding it and sitting down beside him.

"Hey," he replies, taking his eyes off the game long enough to acknowledge his wife and two other daughters who have joined their sister on the blanket. "How did it go?"

"It went well," she nods. "Still have to bring in suspects tomorrow, but at least we hit a good stopping point. Come on Rebels!" Kate shouts, cheering on the twins' team. The two teams of four, five, and six year olds continue to chase the ball around; clumped together in one large group, not having fully grasped the concept of 'spread out' quite yet. Kate has to laugh as how funny these kids are, and she thinks every parent on both sides has done the exact same thing.

"Here Dani, Mia," Kate says, passing out sweatshirts to the girls. Even though it was a warm day, it's getting colder as the sun starts to set. All three girls head off to an empty corner of field not far away and start playing tag and turning cartwheels with the other siblings attending the game.

At halftime, Austin and Liam run over to their family, searching for water bottles.

"You boys are doing great," Rick smiles, handing out water.

"Thanks," Austin replies, gulping down water.

"Having fun?" Kate asks.

"Yeah," Austin nods. "I was _so_ close to getting a goal."

"Keep trying," Kate encourages. "You're gonna get it."

Halftime ends with a whistle blow from the referee, and the twins' race back to their team's 'bench.' Because they played most of the first half, Austin and Liam are being held on the sidelines as their other teammates run onto the field.

With another whistle blow, the second half begins.

[] []

"I don't want to hear it, Liam Roy," Kate says, ushering her kids through the garage door and into the house. Liam comes in, still pitching a fit, as he has been since they left the soccer field.

Upset over losing the game; tired after a long day of school and having the 'late' game that night. He's done.

All of the kids are done. They are picking fights over dumb things and pushing each other's buttons.

"Alright, up to bed," Kate says, pushing her son towards the stairs. He goes, crying the whole way; his siblings having scrambled off to various parts of the house.

Kate sighs loudly, sitting at the breakfast bar. She scrapes her hair back, and pulls her cell phone out of her pocket. The lock screen lit up with a text message from Lanie.

 _Sign us up!_

Kate grins, setting it on the counter and moving to the fridge to look for food. She went straight from work to pick the girls up from tumbling class and then to the boys' game. She hasn't eaten anything since lunch, and a pb&j and some grapes is nothing when it's nearly seven o'clock at night.

She opens the fridge and pulls out leftovers of that night's dinner: Cincinnati style chili, and a plastic bag of grated cheese. A family favorite combining spaghetti noodles and chili topped with whatever the consumer wants. She pops the top of the container and sticks it in the microwave.

While her food heats up, Kate reaches across the counter for her phone and replies to her friend.

 _Great! I'll let Castle know. More info soon._

All those secret phone calls and e-mails, holding up in his office working on a 'secret project' amounted to this.

She wasn't surprised when he brought it up to her at all: Disney World; The Happiest Place on Earth. They had been planning on taking their kids eventually anyway.

But what Castle had planned, she initially though was completely crazy; it will never work. But somehow it did. Everything was working out and the trip was getting planned. Thanks in part to Castle's amazing travel agent who was doing most of the heavy lifting.

He had sent out an e-mail to their friends and family when they came back from their getaway last month asking what dates would work for everyone; what they had planned. And from there they worked out the best week for them all to go.

Ryan, Jenny and their two kids would already be in Florida visiting her mom and step-dad; they were the first to reply with a 'yes.' Alexis and Max also accepted their invitation, saying that they would make arrangements to have their shifts covered. Unfortunately both her dad and his mom were not able to come along on the trip. Martha would be working at Summer Stock, like she always did that time of year and Jim might be pulled in on a high profile trial, and didn't want to commit to the trip and then have to cancel because he got called in.

And now with Lanie and Javier's RSVP, they now had everyone and could finalize their plans.

The microwave goes off, and Kate pulls out her food, dropping it on the counter quickly because she stupidly grabbed it with bare hands knowing full well it was going to be hot. She shakes out her hands, hissing as they sting from the heat. She grabs the bag of tortilla chips from on top of the fridge and crushes a handful over her dinner. She adds some cheese and leaves both on the counter as she digs in while walking back to her seat at the bar.

Kate eats her dinner, both loving and hating the silence of the house's main floor. No kids running around fighting or playing games of pretend; the television turned off; not even Castle typing away on his laptop or rushing over to her to show her some dumb video or article. Her cell phone isn't even going off! She slurps up the last bite of pasta, and rounds the counter to clean up. After putting away her chips and cheese and rinsing out the bowl, Kate goes in search of her husband and to console her hurt kid.

She checks the office first and finds it empty, and turns back through the hallway picking up a lost baby doll and putting it on the entry table as she mounts the stairs. At the top, Kate goes right towards the master bedroom. The door is ajar and Kate can hear the shower running from the outside, and once again she turns tail back down the hallway to her sons' bedroom.

Liam is lying in his bed when Kate pushes open the half closed door. He's cuddling with his puppy stuffed animal and watching a movie on the TV perched on his and Austin's shared dresser.

"Scoot over," Kate directs, coming into the room and sitting down onto her son's twin sized bed. As Liam makes room, Kate leans back against the headboard, pulling her son close. Liam wiggles into her side, laying his head just under her collar bone, an arm still wrapped around his puppy.

"I'm sorry," Liam mumbles after a moment.

Such a sweet boy; he's always been that way. He wears his heart on his sleeve, very kind and compassionate; always the first to make people feel batter when they are hurt or sad.

"I know you are," Kate replies. "It's no fun to lose, is it?" She feel his head nod, and lays her cheek on his hair. "But sometimes it's okay to lose. It makes us work harder the next time."

"Yeah," he sighs.

"You're gonna work harder, right?"

"Yeah," he nods, setting his jaw. "We're gonna get better."

Kate isn't totally sure Liam's mind fully understands what she said, but somewhere deep inside, it does and is working it out and eventually the kid will get what his mom was talking about that one night.

"Come on," Kate sits up as the show ends. "Let's go get some dessert." She reaches for Liam's hand. The boy smiles and jumps up; his bad mood gone in a flash.

"Ice cream?" Liam requests, despite the spring chill.

"Yeah," Kate smiles, turning down the hall and starting on the stairs. "And if you don't brag to your siblings about it, I'll let you have some of my flavor."

Liam's face lights up. Kate's favorite ice cream flavor, Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia, is never to be touched by kids without permission. They only keep a small carton of it around at a time and it is rationed within an inch of its life. It must be a big deal if Kate is pawning off some of her ice cream to her son.

The kid scampers down the stairs, jumping off the last two steps and landing on all fours as his mom follows. Liam rounds the corner before her and she can hear him opening the freezer and rummaging through for the cartons of ice cream.

"Gotta let it sit out for a few and get a little softer, bud," Kate says closing the lid the Liam half pried open. He sighs loudly and steps back from the counter. "Sorry, it's the rules," Kate shrugs.

"What's the rules?" Castle asks coming into the kitchen wearing navy blue sleep shorts and pulling a shirt over his head.

"We gotta let it sit and get warm," Liam replies, pointing at his dessert.

"It will be too hard to scoop if you don't," Castle says, reaching over Kate's head and pulling down bowls.

"Oh!" Kate interjects. "Lanie texted me; she and Javi and the girls are good to go," she smiles, turning to Castle.

"Great!" he replies, his voice trails off as he walks into the office and comes back a minute later with his laptop. He wakes it up and types in his password before going to his email and forwarding the necessary messages to Lanie and Javier now that they are officially in the group going to Florida. "Let's see that brings our total to," he counts quickly in his head, adding the extra four bodies, "seventeen." He winces at the uneven number, hoping that Jim will be able to come to even out their count. It just makes things a lot easier for everyone involved if there is an even number of people in a large group.

"Is it ready yet?" Liam asks, hanging off the counter and leaning back, stretching his arms out to full length.

Kate opens the carton and tests a scoop. "I think so," she smiles and Liam cheers from beside her. She starts to dish out bowls for the other four kids, and once they're full she slides them further down the counter to make room. When she reaches Liam's bowl, Kate scoops out a little less than what she gave the others and fills the bowl the rest of the way with the coveted ice cream flavor. Liam heads for the table with his treat and hops up into his seat, the spoon sticking out of his mouth.

Kate loads the other four bowls onto a tray and brings it to the basement where the kids have migrated and are sprawled over the couch watching TV. She passes them out, reminding the kids to bring their bowls back upstairs when they are done and that after they finish it is bedtime. She knows that letting them eat ice cream by the TV is playing with fire, but it's a rare occasion and she knows they're usually pretty good about not making a mess.

Kate returns to the kitchen and both her son and husband are at the table scooping up bites, heads turned to see the iPad propped up in its case. One bowl remains on the counter but Kate opts to just eat straight from the carton. She joins the boys at the table, shaking her head at the motor cycle racing video they are watching.

"I sent Karen an email with our new numbers and she's changing out reservation," Castle says, a bite halfway to his mouth.

Kate hums a reply, her mouth full of cherry-rum goodness.

[] []

One bowl of ice cream and three videos later, Rick Castle is tucking in his daughters while Kate does the same with their sons. He makes sure the fairy lights are on and all three girls have their various comfort items (blankets, babies, bears, animals). He turns out the light and makes the rounds giving goodnight kisses and hugs.

"I love you," He tells each girl, and smacks kisses into their cheeks. He slips off Finn's glasses and sets them on her bedside table. Glasses are fairly new to the girl; she's only had them about eighteen months, and when she wears them Kate swears Finn is the spitting image of her father.

"Love you daddy!" the girls call once more before Castle closes the door and heads down the hall, crossing with Kate in the middle as they switch rooms to say goodnight.

"I'm really proud of you boys in your game today," Castle compliments the boys, tucking them in like he did with their sisters.

"We're gonna get better," Liam announces.

"I bet you will," Castle nods, kissing Liam's forehead. "And soon you'll be playing with the bigger boys like it's old hat."

"I can do that now," Austin says; the boy is confidents in his abilities, what can you do?

"Maybe wait until you get a bit more practice in, yeah? Gotta be able to keep up with the big kids after all, right?" Castle asks, heading for the door, clicking on the night light as he goes.

"Yeah, that's true," Austin nods, wriggling into his pillow. "Good night dad, love you." He says.

"Love you too," Castle responds, casting one last look at his boys before closing their door and heading for his office to start that Halo match he had promised his online friends.


	4. April

**A/N: The hardest part about writing a story like this is getting where you need to go because once you get there, the fun can start. We're almost there, guys! It's going to start getting fun.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Disclamor: Don't own them. But you already knew that.**

* * *

Miyana screeches as she races down the hallway, past the living room and into her dad's office; her twin brothers right on her tail. She's still in her black leotard and pink tights, her hair pulled back into a bun, from her dance class a few hours before. Mia dives onto the couch and covers herself with the throw blanket that always hangs on the back. Maybe if the boys can't see her, they will go away.

"Got you, Mia!" Liam calls as he jumps on his sister. He hugs her around her waist and growls like the monster he was pretending to be.

"No!" Miyana screams. "Mommy!" She doesn't want to be caught by the monster anymore; she doesn't want to play.

"Liam, get off your sister, she doesn't want to play your game anymore," Kate says, standing in the doorway of the office. Liam slides off his sister, then the couch and takes off again when his feet hit the floor. Miyana sits up and flings the blanket off her.

"Come on Mia girl, it's time to take a bath," she says, holding out her hand. Miyana gets up and holds her mommy's hand with her own.

"I didn't like that game anymore," Mia says, walking up the stairs, down the hall and to her room, with her mom. Her other two sisters already there and getting ready for bath time.

"I know you didn't; that's why I told the boys to leave you alone," Kate says, squatting down and helping Mia take off her dance clothes. "You need to tell your brothers to stop next time you're done playing, alright?" she asks. She isn't mad, just reminding Mia to use her words; something she isn't very good at sometimes.

Miyana nods her head, and sits down to pull off her tights; first one foot then the other. She kicks them away from her: all wrinkled and inside out, before standing and walking into the bathroom. All of the sisters get their own bathroom so they don't have to share with the stinky boys.

While mommy fills the tub with water, the three little girls drop in their favorite bath toys, giggling as each one splashes when it hits the water. They each try and outdo one another on who can make the biggest splash. Danielle wins when she drops in a whole bag of sharks their Poppa got them from the aquarium in Chicago. The splash they make almost hits the ceiling!

Kate laughs and turns off the tap. "Alright my little trouble makers, get in," she says, turning and lifting Finn into the water.

They get to play with toys for a little while before getting washed up. It takes a while for mommy to wash their hair because it is very long, just like Rapunzel, but eventually she does. Next it's their bodies with the purple scrubby thing and strawberry smelling bubbles; mommy tells them they use the strawberry bubbles because daddy likes the smell of it, but Miyana thinks it's because Danielle got to pick it the last time they were at the store and she picked it because it was pink and not because of the smell.

"I'll let you girls play for a few more minutes, but then you have to get out, alright?" Kate asks, standing up from the toilet where she's sitting.

"Alright," the girls answer, already lost in their game.

Kate comes back five minutes later, a stack of towels in her hands. She holds one up and Danielle is the first to stand up and climb out of the tub before mommy wraps her up tight in the fluffy towel. The other two follow suit and soon the girls are back in their bedroom and putting on their pajamas.

All three girls are dressed differently: Finn in a shirt and leggings with monkeys on them, Mia is wearing Disney Princesses on her shirt and pants, and Danielle is wearing an old shirt of her dad's that's more like a dress on her, and bright pink booty shorts from her collection she uses at cheerleading practice.

Mommy brushes through all three heads of hair, being more careful when she hits the tangled places, and puts two French braids in Finn's hair; the child has been on a 'braids in her hair' kick lately. When she finishes, she stands up and leaves the girls in their room, heading for the boys'.

"Austin and Liam, let's go," she calls to them and the twins scramble to clean up the bucket of Legos they had dumped out all over the floor. Once the bricks have been put back into the giant clear bucket they had come from, Kate herds her twins into their bathroom and starts a bath for them.

[] []

Kate's foot digs into his thigh as she stretches her legs out, shifting position on the couch next to him. He wraps a hand around her foot and she flinches for a split second, her foot sensitive to his touch. While he's been working away on finalizing his latest manuscript for publishing, Kate has been curled up on the couch next to him: iPad on her lap, headphones in her ears, catching up on her YouTube subscriptions. She doesn't get much time to watch videos, but sometimes he catches her watching them during lunch or while they are waiting for lab results to come in or for phone calls and e-mails to be returned. She loves those daily family vloggers, loves seeing their kids grow-up over the years.

When she was pregnant, Kate cried over those families; watching new babies be born, and kids starting kindergarten and learning to ride a bike with no training wheels. It gave her hope on the hard days, and things to look forward to on the good ones.

And now? Well its just become a habit that she can't break. Plus she's watched those families long enough, she has to keep watching to see them grow and change.

The kids have all been bathed and are having a movie night in the girls' room. They had agreed to watch the girls' choice, _Kiki's Delivery Service_ , first and then the boys: _The Incredibles_ ; which, despite their apparent hatred, the girls really like. And when he had checked up on them half an hour ago, they were all getting along and enjoying their Friday night tradition.

"Mommy! Dani is being mean!"

Well that didn't last long.

"Did you tell her to stop?" Castle asks his son who is standing at the railing on the balcony over the living room.

"Uh huh," Liam replies, leaning on the rails, making them creak.

"Don't lean on the rails," Castle scolds. "Tell her to come here," he directs and Liam runs off. A second later both kids return, continuing their fight.

"Daddy! He's taking my pillow!" Danielle shouts over her brother.

"Okay!" Castle shouts over both kids, silencing them. "Danielle, let you brother have a pillow. Liam, next time ask, okay?"

Both kids start to protest, saying that it was the other's fault or that they were being mean.

"Be nice or you're both going to bed," Castle threatens.

"Okay," Danielle and Liam respond, heading back to the bedroom.

"They love each other," Kate pipes up. Rick looks over at her, and aside from an earbud hanging next to her jaw, she hasn't moved an inch. "Just watch: when we go and check on them those two will be curled up together in Dani's bed sharing that pillow they were fighting over."

Castle chuckles, smiling slightly. She's right. Danielle and Liam are pretty close; even if they fight like and old married couple. It's what prompted him and Kate to make sure they were in the same class for pre-school; keep them together and hopefully make that transition easier. They might have to keep them together for kindergarten too. If they can.

"Yeah," he says, agreeing with his wife. His phone vibrates beside him, and he answers, putting it on speaker. "Hello?"

" _Hey, Dad."_

"Hey Alexis," Castle replies, getting Kate's attention with a nudge to her leg

"What's up, kiddo?" Rick asks his oldest daughter. "Not that talking to you isn't great," he says, saving himself, hopefully.

" _Just a break at work and needed to call you."_

"Okay?" Must be pretty important if she's calling while at work.

" _Have you booked plane tickets for the trip yet?"_

"I'm about too, why?"

" _Don't get one for me and Max. We both have to work the day we planned on leaving and we can't get out of it. We'll just get our own."_

"Oh," Rick sighs, a little disappointed. "But you're still coming, right?"

" _Oh yeah! We'll be there. We just can't fly out with you guys. I'm sorry."_

"Hey, it's fine. I know you guys are busy."

" _I know you do,"_ Alexis replies. _"I'm being paged, I gotta go, but I'll call you later, okay?"_

"Alright, pumpkin," Rick smiles. "I'll talk to you soon. Love you."

" _Love you guys too."_ And the call ends with a click.

Castle sighs, setting his phone on the arm rest. He had really been hoping Alexis and Max could have flown down to Florida with them; they could have all started their vacation together.

"It will be okay," Kate says, shrugging. "They are the lowest on the totem pole. I bet they had to pull all sorts of strings and promise to sell the soul of their first born to get the time off for this trip," She half jokes, trying to get rid of Castle's sudden sour mood.

"Yeah," he mumbles.

"What's wrong?" Kate asks, thinking that 'selling their first born's soul' comment would have gotten him.

"I just-" he sighs, rubs a hand over his face, trying to find the words. "With her having to work and not being able to fly down with us, I just feel like I'm losing her."

"Why would you think that?" Kate asks, shaking her head. "She hasn't gone anywhere. Sure her work schedule is crazy and we don't get to see her very often right now, that doesn't mean we've lost her."

He was like this during Alexis and Max's wedding too: finding it hard to let his baby girl move on to the next chapter of her life; not liking the change.

"I know; it just feels that way." Castle sighs. "But I understand. Doesn't mean I have to like it."

"You think Alexis and Max like having to work while their family is starting the vacation they were supposed to be starting with them?" Kate replies, shaking her head again. "They hate it just as much as we do."

"Yeah," Castle agrees, going back to his laptop and pulling up the airline's website.

"Come on," Kate says. "Take a break; plane tickets can wait fifteen more minutes." She sets his computer on the coffee table, and scoots closer to him, laying her head on his bicep. "I wanna watch with you," she says, removing her earphones and turning the volume all the way up, playing the next video on the playlist she made.

After the video, he does feel better and Castle quickly books their tickets, forwarding the conformation e-mail to his travel agent before shutting down his computer. Kate had resumed her spot on the other side of the couch, and Castle, after setting his computer on the coffee table again, lies down on his belly, his head in her lap.

Kate laughs, not looking up from her video. "Can I help you?" she chuckles, brow furrowed.

"Nope, I'm good," Castle replies, taking the forgotten headphone and sticking it into his ear, continuing to watch from his spot.

Kate hums, running a hand through Castle's hair, not saying anything else.


	5. May

**A/N: Just a quick filler. Some scenes that I've had in back log that i felt fit well together. The fun is starting! Oh! And any spelling or grammar mistakes you see are all my fault; I'm sorry.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Disclamor: Not mine; just borrow them**

* * *

"Daddy!" The two girls race towards him, garment bags dragging behind them. Miyana reaches him first and barrels intro his chest for a hug.

"We got our costumes today!" she shouts, holding up her two bags, waving them happily in front of his face. Finn copies her sister; both super excited to have received their costumes for their upcoming dance recital.

"I see," he replies, taking them from his daughters, leading the girl back to their bags and lays their costumes on an empty seat. "Here," he says, handing them their bags. "Change out of your shoes and then it's time to go home."

The girls sit on the floor in front of and next to him as one of the dance moms, Janet is her name he thinks, approaches him with a toothy grin plastered on her face as if she's three seconds away from an actual mental break down. She has dirty blonde hair, blue-grey eyes, typical 'soccer mom' clothes: a tee shirt and jeans, with a very kind demeanor. In the handful of times Rick Castle has dealt with her at his daughter's dance studio, he's agreed that Janet is very nice.

"Hi!" she greets cheerfully. "Rick, right? I'm Janet, Clara's mom? Our girls are in the same class." Clara? He has to think for a second to place a name to the face. But he finally can see the little girl: jet black hair; dark, almond shaped eyes; tiny, she's the smallest in the class. Come to think of it: were she not adopted, Rick would think the child has an amazing resemblance to her mother. "Anyway," Janet continues. "I'm room mom for Recital this year and I wanted to make sure you knew about costumes and hair this year."

"Okay," Castle nods.

"Okay, so I typed this up," she says, handing him a piece of paper with information listed on it. It's divided between the two dances the girls' class is doing. Each section includes details on costumes and hair and how it should be done. "So pictures are on Thursday and they need to be in full costumes, makeup and hair. I know it says they need flowers for their tap dance, but they're not finished yet, but they will be by Thursday, so don't worry," Janet says, waving her hand as if to say it was no big deal.

"Well, great!" Castle says, folding the paper and sticking it into the pocket of Miyana's dance bag.

"Great!" Janet smiles. "I'll see you girls on Thursday," she says looking down at Mia and Finn who are looking eager to go home.

"See you then," Castle nods. "Come on girls, get your stuff." He stands, handing bags to their respective dancer and starts to walk towards the front door. There are calls of goodbye to Miyana and her sister, and last minute hugs from friends who are staying for later classes and rehearsals, but Castle finally gets himself and his daughters in the car and on the way home.

[] []

"Wow! Look at you!" Castle exclaims, admiring his wife standing before him in their kitchen. It's the first time he's seen her since that morning when he was helping out on a case before heading off to work meetings and in the interim, Kate had gone to the hair salon and cut off a good six inches of her hair. The brown locks now brush her shoulders, and have streaks of lighter caramel brown dotted in to make the style pop.

"Yeah? You like it?" she smiles, running her fingers through her hair.

"I love it!" he nods.

"Good," she says, kissing him quickly before turning to the fridge.

"So did everything turn out alright? I know it was touch and go there for a while," Castle asks, sitting at the bar, about the case he had helped out on.

Kate sighs, shaking her head. "You know how these things are, Castle. They can drag on for weeks with no outcome in sight."

"So that's a 'no,' then?"

"It's more of a 'wait and see'," she replies, heating up leftovers for dinner. "But enough about that," she replies, waving a hand. "How was your meeting?"

Castle sighs, dropping a hand onto the counter. "You're gonna hate me for this," he starts. "But the first date for the new Nikki Heat book tour is the Saturday after we get back."

"Oh; okay," Kate nods. It's really the best seeing as they would have just gotten back from vacation a few days prior, but it's not the worst.

"In Chicago," Castle finishes, wincing at the anticipation of Kate's reply.

Oh.

"And you agreed to that?" Kate questions, trying to understand why her husband gets home from vacation and then almost immediately has to jump right back onto a plane for work obligations.

"Well I told them to start the tour after our trip; I didn't think it would be the _weekend_ after!"

"Okay, you're right: that is stupid," Kate agrees. "I can't believe they would do that, knowing full well you just got home."

"I know right! Sometimes I wonder why I keep them around," Castle chuckles.

"Go call your kids; dinner is ready," Kate instructs, starting to plate dinner.

[] []

The little boy sat curled in an armchair, finger in his mouth, eyes glued on the TV hung above the fireplace before him. Austin wiggled and wiggled, working on the loose front tooth; it was his first and had been loose for nearly a month. His dad had threatened that if Austin didn't wiggle it loose first, he would personally yank it out.

"How's it coming, Austin?" Castle asks his son, leaning over the couch.

"Okay," Austin replies, though the words come out muffled over his fingers.

"Alright, well keep trying," Castle encourages. Having seen the tooth in question, Rick is certain it could come out today; it's that ready.

Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle; Austin keeps at it; and finally feels the tooth pop out on one side.

He gasps and removes his fingers; lets it sit for a few minutes, before starting back at.

Tien minutes later the tooth is hanging on by a literal threat and with one more yank, and a pinch, the tiny front tooth comes out in Austin's fingers.

"Daddy! Mommy!" Austin cheers, hopping of the chair, ignoring his siblings' questions. He goes into the office where his parents had been talking about 'Grown-up' stuff.

"What's up buddy?" Kate asks, sitting up on the couch.

"My tooth came out!" the boy cheers, holing out his hand.

"Wow; let me see," Kate requests, opening her son's mouth and sure enough there is a slightly bloody hole where the baby bottom front tooth used to be.

"Daddy, see?" Austin asks, going over to his dad.

"Yeah, let me see," Castle nods, looking first at the tooth in Austin's hand then at the gap in his mouth. "Alright, buddy! That's awesome!"

"Come on, let's go put you tooth in a bag so you don't lose it," Kate says, standing and heading for the kitchen, Austin on her heels. The other four kids are even more curious and cheer and jump around and ask to see when Austin shows him is missing tooth, safely contained in the plastic baggie.

Later that night, for the first of what will be many times, the Tooth Fairy makes a visit to the Castle house. She takes Austin's tooth and the note he had written for her and leaves a note in response, three dollars and a brand new pack of gum.

For share time that week at school, Austin tells his 'lost tooth' tale and proudly shows off the gap in his smile.


	6. Countdown

**A/N: Let the fun begin! It's taken us all summer to get here, but it's here!**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Summer vacation had begun! The kids had just had their pre-school graduation complete with caps and gowns for the class of twenty-six four and five year olds. They had sung songs and their teachers had given speeches before each child in the graduating class got their own diploma: rolled up and tied with a red or blue ribbon.

After a celebratory lunch at Remy's, Kate headed back to work, and Castle had taken his kids home to play for a little while and hopefully take a nap. Of course his kids were much too old for a nap; naps were for babies. However they were not too old to have 'rest time,' which more times than not ends up with one or more of the kids falling asleep.

Rick sits in his office, replying to e-mails while his kids play in the backyard. He clicks send on the final message and stands up. He pushes his shoulder blades together, stretching the muscles that were getting stiff from sitting all day.

He walks to the windows of his office and can see the kids playing: Miyana and Finn are at the playhouse with their baby dolls; Liam and Austin are playing with their cars in the dirt under the swing set; and Danielle is standing at the top of the slide, hanging onto the cross bar, getting ready to slide down.

"Alright, time to come inside," He says through the window screen a few moments later.

"Five more minutes!" Austin calls back to him.

He shakes his head, "No more minutes; it's time to come inside." He leaves the window and moves out of his office and into the great room to make sure his kids don't slam the back door, which they like to do, even though they have been told a hundred times not too.

Defeated, the kids troop inside, making a beeline to the kitchen for a drink. It's hot outside and Castle can see sweat tuning the boys' hairline a darker shade of brown; definitely time for them to come inside.

After they finish their drink and all the cups are back on the counter, Castle sends all of the kids to their spots for rest time. He and Kate have learned over the years that keeping the kids together during naps is a recipe for disaster. Now, most of the time, the kids are in separate rooms.

[] []

With all five kids finally in bed resting, Castle can get some things done. They are leaving for their trip in less than five days and there is still a long list of things to be done.

He changes out the laundry, putting a dry load onto the table to be folded and put away; he adds a dryer sheet to the next load going in and turns it on. Rick works on folding the clothes, putting them in piles according to which room they go too, before getting distracted and leaving the room, and the half-folded pile of clothes.

He scampers down the basement stairs, passes by Liam who is laying on the couch, half asleep, a movie playing on TV, a water bottle next to him. He goes into the unfinished storage room and trips over a box of Memorial Day decorations and things he was supposed to put away last week. Oops. He reaches up to the second highest shelf and pulls down their two sets of suitcases. As he's carrying them back upstairs, Liam sits up and looks at him for a minute before lying down again, sure that everything is alright.

Back upstairs, he sets the suitcases right in front of the stairs going up to the second floor before going back to the laundry he had left.

[] []

"Austin Michael! Liam Roy!" Kate calls over the balcony into the living room where her kids are playing Super Mario on the Wii; the boys look up at her, mad their mom distracted their game. "Come up here, please," she tells them then turns back to her bedroom.

She shakes her head at the open suitcases on the master bedroom floor. The ones she had to carry upstairs after tripping over them when she got home from work earlier that evening. The ones she _specifically_ asked her husband to bring into their room so she could start packing for their trip.

One of the open bags was already filing up with her and Castle's clothes. It was just basic things: underwear, socks, and some workout clothes; she was still pulling out things from her closet, trying to decide what to bring.

The other two lay empty, but are about to get filled up once the boys got upstairs.

Kate hears her sons before she sees them; racing each other to see who can get to mommy and daddy's room the fastest. Liam reaches the room first and he jumps onto the bed, messing up the pile of clothes Kate had neatly set their minutes before. Austin follows his twin and together both boys roll over the bed, giggling and messing up everything in their path.

Kate laughs at them, ignoring the fact that those shirts and shorts are all wrinkled now and her hard work mostly went to waste.

"Alright, alright," she laughs, grabbing onto their ankles causing the twins to laugh even more. The wiggling stops and both boys lean over the edge of the bed to look at her. From this angle with their matching dimples and pairs of dark blue eyes, they look so much like their dad that it starts to scare her a bit.

"Ok, I need you to do a job for me," she says after a minute. The boys sit up, eager to help. "I need one of you to go into your room and grab the white hamper in your closet and the other of you go get the hamper in your sisters' room; can you do that?"

"Yup," they say, sliding off the bed and taking off out of the room again.

While the boys are off on their job, she goes into her bathroom to start packing her makeup and toiletries. She only packs the bare essentials for their week in Florida; this is Disney World, not Fashion Week, simple face and eye makeup is all she'll need for most of the days, though she does throw in a tube of her favorite red lipstick to wear on the 'fancier' night Castle had planned for one night that week.

Fancy night!

Need a nicer dress.

The thought comes to her mind and she runs into her closet before she forgets. She thumbs through her dresses and decides on the black one she wore to Ryan and Jenny's son, Kieran's, baptism: mid length, one shouldered, hugs her curves and flares out at her waist. She loves it and knows Castle does too.

"Mommy!" A voice calls out to her and she leaves the closet, dress in hand. "The boys were in our room," Danielle announces to her, standing in front of the bed.

"I know; I told them too," Kate says, quelling the fight that was going to arise. The boys aren't allowed into the girls' room without permission, and vice versa for the girls. She lays the dress on her bed, smoothing out the material.

"Oh," Dani says, her brow furrowing as though the thought of her mom giving her brothers permission to get into her bedroom is the craziest thing she's ever heard. "That's pretty," Danielle says, walking over and running her hands on the back dress, loving the feel of the satin material on her fingers.

"It is pretty, isn't it?" Kate asks, watching her daughter touch her dress and smile at it. "Do you remember when I wore this dress last time?"

"Uh-huh, we were at church with Uncle Kevin and Aunt Jenny and Tio and Nani and Gracie and Kieran," Dani says happily, recalling the event nearly three years before.

"That's right," Kate smiles. "Do you think this is a good choice to bring with us to Florida? Daddy is taking me out one night for dinner and I was thinking of bringing this one."

Is she really asking her five year-old daughter for fashion advice?

"Yup it's a good one," Danielle sighs. "You look pretty in it."

Apparently she is.

A loud crash has Kate turning away from Danielle and the dress to her bedroom door faster than a bolt of lightning.

Austin is pushing himself off the floor; the hamper he was dragging behind him sits wedged in the doorway, on its side, between him and Liam, who is dragging his own hamper.

"Are you alright?" she asks.

Austin looks up and starts crying; big crocodile tears that make thick tracks down his cheeks. Kate scoops him up and carries him over to the chairs that sit in front of the windows.

"Momma, I didn't mean too!" Liam calls, repeating it as he follows his mom and twin. "Momma I-"

"I heard you Liam," Kate says to him, a little more forcefully than she should have, because Liam's face breaks and he runs from her room, starting to cry. Austin is still in her lap, though his tears have stopped. No damage that Kate can see; just a bruised ego.

Danielle had left the same time Liam did; probably afraid of getting yelled at too.

"What's with the tears, buddy? Huh? It really isn't that bad," Kate asks her youngest son, wiping the hair off his face.

"We was racing and I hit the door and everything spilled," Austin sniffles after a minute.

"Is that all?" Kate chuckles. "That's nothing," She waves a hand to show her son how unimportant a basket of spilled clothes was. "Come on; help me finish packing up so we can go get dessert." Kate stands, her son sliding to the floor and scampering to his overturned laundry basket and the one behind it that Liam abandoned.

They slide both baskets over to the open suitcases, and with a bit of teamwork, and a lot of rearranging, both the girls' and boys' suitcases were filled and standing in a corner ready for their trip in a few days. Unfortunately the kids costumes: princess dresses, Sheriff Woody, Buzz Lightyear, and a few others couldn't fit in the kids' bag and had to be put into their own suitcase. At least it weighed less than fifty pounds.

"Good job, Austin," Kate cheers, slapping five with her youngest son. The kindergartener smiles, jumping to slap his mom's hand again.

"We did good, huh?" Austin asks his mom.

"We did," she nods. "Thanks for all your help," she says palming the back of his head and leading them both out of the room and down the hall. "Ready?" Kate asks, meeting Castle halfway down the stairs as he comes up.

"Yeah," he nods. "Mia and Nemo are in the car," he relays, passing his wife and son on the stairs, heading to look for the final two kids.

"We'll meet you there," Kate calls, finishing the stairs and heading to the garage, grabbing a sweatshirt on her way out just in case anyone needed it.

[] []

"Uh yeah, she'll have a kids' scoop of 'Reese's Peanut Butter Cup in a sugar cone, please," Kate says to the college student behind the display case. Once the ice cream cone is finished and passed over the glass, Kate hands it to its recipient before taking the final three steps to the cash register.

"Is that everything?" The young girl asks, adding the final cone to their total.

"Yeah, I think so," Kate nods, slurping up a melting drip off her waffle cone of Rocky Road and Cherries Jubilee.

"Alright," The casher does some quick math, "you total is twenty one- forty five."

"Oh. Really?" Kate asks, surprised. It usually costs a bit more than that.

"Yeah. I took off one of the kids' cones because you bought three, so you get one free. And then I worked a bit of magic," she smirks, getting Kate a better deal for their treat.

"Wow! Thank you," Kate smiles. She slides her debit card and pays the bill, adding a nice tip for the girl.

"You're very welcome. Have a nice night," the girl says, smiling.

Kate grabs a wad of extra napkins before joining her family out on the patio where they had claimed a section of the picnic tables that covered the fenced off area. The store had gotten quite busy since they first arrived, and Kate was eager to get out of there as soon as possible; large crowds in tight spaces sill made her a bit wary. But out in the open patio, she took a few breaths and was perfectly fine after a minute.

The kids were enjoying their dessert: stealing bites of their siblings' flavors, talking with each other and friends from school they had run into, and not fighting for once.

As Kate finishes her cone, just as she stuffs the last bite into her mouth, her cell phone rings. She wipes off her fingers before slipping it from her pocket.

"Hey dad!" She calls, mouth still full. Kate chews quickly as her dad laugh on the other line.

"Hey, Katie!" Jim replies.

"Hey, dad? Hold on one second," Kate sets the phone on her chest, and calls to her kids. "It's Papa, come here." The five scamper over, eager to talk to their grandfather and show him the surprise they had prepared. "Dad? I'm going to put you on speaker; the kids have something they want to tell you." Kate puts the phone on speaker and quietly counts down her kids.

On 'three' they all scream into the cell phone: "Happy birthday, Poppa!"

Jim laughs again; bright and happy. "Thank you," he says to all of his grandchildren.

"Dad?" Kate asks, putting the phone back to her ear as the kids disperse again. "Did you like it?"

"It was great, Katie, just great!" Jim responds.

"Good, I'm glad you like it. The kids have been practicing all day," she laughs.

"I'm sure they have," Jim nods. "Listen, Katie. I know it's pretty last minute, but I was hoping there would be some way to add me onto your Disney trip?"

"I thought you had to work," Kate asks, her brow furrowing.

"So did I," Jim agrees. "But I got the call as I was leaving my office today; they don't need me after all.

Kate gasps, and Castle looks up at her, questions written all over his face.

"Dad! That's fantastic! You know what, don't worry about anything; we'll find a way to add you."

"Katie, I don't to cause too much trouble."

"Dad, you are never trouble! Like I said: don't worry; we'll work it out. I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"

"Alright; talk then. Love you, Katie."

"Love you too. Bye," Kate hangs up, a smile covering her face.

"What happened?" Castle questions, leaning towards her.

"My dad just got called about work. Apparently they don't need him next week and he was hoping we could squeeze him in on our trip. We can, can't we?"

"Of course we can!" Castle smiles, nodding his head. "I'll set it up when we get home."

"Great," Kate says, leaning over the table to kiss her husband.

And when Kate calls her dad back the next morning, everything has been set up; Jim is all set to come with his family to Disney World.


	7. Early Morning Drive

**A/N: Everyone ready? Got your bags packed and a bottle of sunscreen? Alright! Let's go.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Disclamor: Not mine; just borrow them sometimes.**

* * *

It is much too early for anyone to be awake, it fact she might just go back to sleep right no–

"Kate Beckett don't you dare fall asleep again," Castle's voice rings through the room, coffee cups in hand, the bathroom and closet lights illuminating him with shadows where they don't hit.

"Ugh! Do I have to get up?" she asks, burrowing deeper into her pillow.

"You don't _have_ to do anything. But Lanie and Esposito will be here in twenty minutes, so. . ." he trails off as he sets one of the mugs of coffee on her bedside table and leaves the room again.

She sits up and brings the mug up to her lips, knowing it's hot, but takes a sip nonetheless. Coffee burns her tongue and throat on its way down and she grimaces the whole time; the caffeine wakes her up, gets her mind going. She gets out of bed, fixing the sheets and blankets that were messed up in the night, and moves to her closet.

Once she gets cleaned up, she walks out of her room, her hair pulled back to keep it out of her face, and nearly collides with one of her sons.

"Whoa, sorry buddy," Kate says, putting a hand to the back of his head. Austin doesn't say anything, just hugs his mom around her waist. Kate squeezes him back, realizing he's still half asleep; it's an early morning for them all. "I was just about to come get you guys up," she says, taking Austin's hand and leading him back to the room he shares with his twin brother.

[] []

Liam is still asleep in the bed closest to the door, and Kate walks up to it, running a hand on her son's side.

"Come on Liam, time to get up," she says, turning on the lamp that sits on his side table. Slowly the boy wakes up, stretching and rubbing at his eyes. Once he wakes up enough, Liam turns his blue eyes, the same as his brother and dad, on his mom. "Hey buddy," Kate says softly. Liam sits up and gets out of bed to hug his mom.

Her boys are much cuddlier when they're sleepy; she likes that.

"Are you guys ready to get dressed? Tio and Nani will be here soon," she says using the nicknames Lanie and Javier were given by her kids when they were little: 'Tio' means uncle in Spanish and 'Nani' is how they pronounced 'Lanie' as two year olds.

She moves to the boys' dresser and pulls out the outfits they had picked out the night before: Tan cargo shorts, a blue tee-shirt with Buzz Lightyear and the little green aliens on it, and a grey sweatshirt to layer over top, just in case. Kate Beckett is not above dressing her twin sons in matching outfits when the occasion is right; and this was one of those times. She tosses them to the appropriate beds, before leaving the room, knowing the boys will get dressed in a few minutes.

Kate goes into her daughters' room, surprised to see two of the three girls up and getting ready under the fairy lights hung round the room in an almost continuous string.

"Mommy, can you help me?" Finn asks, crawling over to her, dress in hand.

"Of course," Kate says, squatting down and taking the dress from her daughter; it's white with orange and pink heart shaped polka dots. She scrunches up the material, and holds it away from her, the head hole facing her chest. "Hands up," she directs Finn, who sits up on her knees and holds her arms up like her mom says. Kate slips the dress over Finn's head and arms and drops it down her torso. The girl thanks her mom and crawls back over to her walker and uses it to help her stand up. Finn fixes the dress that comes to just above her knees, and smiles that famous grin at her mom.

Kate stands back up and goes to her oldest daughter's bed. Danielle is still dead to the world and Kate hates to wake the kid up because she's a beast in the morning and Kate doesn't want to deal with that today.

"Danielle," Kate says, shaking her daughter's shoulder. Dani grunts and moves under her covers, a sign she's waking up. "Come on sunshine," Kate says, shaking the girl once more before turning to the other two.

Both Miyana and Finn are standing in their bathroom, at the sink, brushing their hair and teeth. Kate watches as Mia hits a knot in her hair, struggling with the brush and contorting her face in pain.

"Here, let me help," Kate says, crossing the room and taking the brush from her daughter. Slowly and carefully, Kate works through the tangles in Miyana's hair and expertly pulls it back into a high ponytail, as per request from the five year-old. Mia is also wearing a dress and black leggings, like her sister, but hers is white and navy blue stripped with an appliqued Minnie Mouse on the front.

After brushing her teeth, Finn wipes off her mouth on a towel behind her and turns back to the mirror. She shakes out her hair before sliding in a neon pink headband, setting it right behind her ears, and putting her brown and pink glasses on over it.

"Very pretty," Kate says, smiling at Finn through the mirror. "Ready to go?" She asks the girls. They nod, hop off the step stools, and follow their mom back into the bedroom.

Danielle is now awake, or less asleep than she was five minutes ago, her blonde curls in disarray like they usually are first thing in the morning.

"Danielle, you don't have very long to get ready," Kate tells the girl, hurrying her along.

"Okay," Dani says, sliding blue shorts over her legs and up to her waist before asking her mom for help in trying the drawstring. Kate kneels in front of the girl and ties the bow before pushing Danielle to the bathroom to finish getting ready.

The boys burst through the door to the girls' room just then, both dressed, save for their shoes. They both run around trying to catch their sisters in an imaginary game Kate never fully understood, but one her kids know all too well.

Kate puts a stop to the screaming when she wraps an arm around Austin's stomach as he runs past her. "No more running," she tells him, "it's much too early for that," her son nods and she releases her hold on him.

"Ready!" Danielle shouts, now dressed in blue shorts and a white shirt with Cinderella on it. Kate gives her daughter a once over, stopping at the girls' blonde curls. Obviously Danielle didn't run a brush through them, or maybe she did; with all those curls, it's hard to tell sometimes.

"Dani, go get a brush, let me check your hair," Kate says to her daughter as the other four leave the room, headed for either the boys' room where they can play or downstairs to wait with their dad.

"No!" Danielle shouts, putting both her hands on top of her head. "I did good; I promise!" she jumps away from her mom, not wanting to be caught.

"I know you did, but _I_ want to check it, please." Kate says to the girl, who reluctantly goes back into the bathroom and comes back with the hair brush.

Kate works through the curls and tangles of Danielle's hair, the child most definitely did _not_ do a good job, and when she's finished the hair looks softer, nicer, less like Medusa.

"There, now: it looks good," Kate smiles and Dani runs to the mirror hung on the wall, and turns this way and that, looking at her reflection from different angles. "Come on," Kate stands and moves for the door, "let's go." Danielle follows her and like she guessed: the other four are running around the boys' room, deep in their game.

[] []

He's waiting outside, with their bags, for the bus he chartered to pick them up and take them to the airport to arrive, when a car coming down their street breaks the relative morning silence. It comes around their cul-de-sac and stops in front of the grassy area between the Castle house and their neighbor's.

"Hey 'Zito!" Castle calls as he walks down the driveway towards his friends. The Latin detective looks back at Castle with a face that says what an entire books worth of words couldn't

"Man, I've had to get up much earlier than this before, but when the alarm went off this morning, I hated it _so_ much for waking me up," Esposito says, taking another swig from his travel mug of coffee.

"Yea, yea, yea, poor Javi," Lanie interjects as she gets out of the passenger seat and opens the back door on her side. She works on something inside for a minute before coming out with a grumpy, sleepy two year old in her arms. Monica hides her face in her mom's neck, obviously mad to be up at this early hour.

"Hey, I don't want to hear a word from you, Miss 'I-didn't-have-to-work-all-day-yesterday'," Javier tells his wife as he pops the trunk and starts to pull out their suitcases. He pulls two _vey_ girlie looking backpacks out and slings them over his shoulders. Castle scoffs a laugh, getting a death glare in return.

"And just for that, you can deal with her," Lanie says handing off the girl in her arms and moving around the car, and grabbing her twin sister, "I get the good one," she finishes, walking back to the sidewalk with the baby and sliding the girls' backpack off her dad's shoulder. Lanie kisses her husbands' cheek, a silent white flag in their 'argument.'

"Where's Beckett?" Lanie asks, hoisting her daughter higher on her hip.

"Inside; finishing getting ready," Castle replies, adding the three suitcases to the pile he had created, before moving into the car and helping Esposito take the twins' car seats out as they would be used to and from the airport as well as in the plane and any other car they might drive in.

Lanie nods and turns up the driveway, her sandals scuffing on the concrete and slapping on the bottoms of her feet. She walks through the garage and sets her daughter down as they walk up the stairs and into the mud room, not bothering to knock.

"Beckett?" she calls out, after not seeing her friend right away.

"In here!" Kate calls out and Lanie and Letty follow the voice into the front room of the house. Kate is moving around, putting last minute things into her carry-on bag.

"Hey, you ready?" Lanie asks her.

"Just about," Kate says, standing up and zipping her bag closed, raising a hand to push her hair back, out of habit, but stops short when she realizes it's still pulled back. "Hey Letty, do you want a donut?" Kate asks the little girl, stealing a look at her mom, who nods.

Letty smiles happily, and Kate leads them into the kitchen where her five kids are sitting at the table, their own donuts in front of them.

"Nani, we're going today," Finn announces to her aunt as she, her mom, and cousin come into the kitchen.

"I know!" Lanie replies, smiling and stopping to hug each of her nieces and nephews as she passes the table. "Are you excited?" she asks, moving to lean against the bar height counter.

"Yea," all five of the kids answer, even though the question was mainly pointed at Finn.

Kate leads Letty to the counter and grabs under her arms to lift her up so she can see inside the clear fronted box. She picks a chocolate frosted donut with rainbow sprinkles on top, which Kate grabs and places on a paper plate before handing it to Letty.

"Hold it with two hands," Kate reminds the girl and watches as she carefully carries it to the table and sits down next to Liam.

Lanie goes to the garage door, opens it, calls for her husband, and returns with Monica in tow. The younger twin goes up to her aunt Kate and asks for a donut like her sister. Kate grabs one and hands it to the girl who is the near mirror image of her twin, save for the scar running down the middle of her top lip where her cleft lip and pallet were repaired just about a year ago. To Kate: it's the one thing she has to tell the girls apart.

Both moms let their kids eat and enjoy their own donuts, the sugary treat work its magic in helping wake them up more. Everything is going well until an outburst spoils the good morning they are having.

"No, Monica!" Austin is pulling his paper plate away from the two year old as she tries to steal the last piece off her cousin's plate.

"Monica, that is Austin's food," Lanie scolds her daughter. "You have one of your own, let him have his," she says going over to her daughter and breaking her donut into smaller pieces, hoping to distract her from Austin's food.

"No! I do have it!" Monica shouts, reaching over, trying to grab the piece again, making Austin cry out again.

Lanie scoops Monica up under her armpits and carries her, crying, over to the time out spot: the corner behind the front door. She comes back, Moni is still crying, and just shrugs at Kate and carries on like nothing happened.

Eventually all of the kids finish their breakfast and get up to throw their trash away. Kate takes the half full trash bag out of the can, replacing it with a new one, and takes old bag to the garage door to be thrown away as they leave. As she's standing next to it, the door opens, startling her at the unexpected sound and movement.

"Beckett," Esposito says, sticking his head through the opening. "The bus is here." Kate nods at him and lets the door stay open as she walks away.

"Alright," Kate calls out, clapping her hand together, "shoes, backpacks, car," she directs her kids, who start to move like it is routine, which it is.

"Liam Roy," Kate calls to her son, who is the first to be ready to go. "Bring this to daddy, tell him to throw it away, please," she says handing Liam the trash bag and watching as he walks down the steps to the garage.

Lanie goes to get Monica from time out, and after a little bit of prompting, gets an apology from the girl for shouting and not listening when she was supposed to. They both come back into the kitchen and Monica runs up to Austin and hugs him around his waist.

"Sorry Tin-Tin," she says.

"It's ok," Austin says, accepting his cousin's apology. He finishes hanging the second strap of his carry-on backpack, which is really just his school backpack cleaned out and filled with snacks and things to keep him occupied during the plane rides, over his shoulder before taking Monica's hand. He leads the girl out the door and down the steps into the garage.

They all troop out of the house, Kate bringing up the rear behind Finn.

"I wanna sit with Nani!" Miyana calls out, running through the garage, stopping at the open bus door. Soon all of the kids are calling out who they want to sit with, talking over each other, practically yelling.

"Okay!" Castle calls out, stopping his kids screaming. "Mia gets so sit with Nani to the airport because she called it first," This gets shouts and complaints from the others, and excited squeals from Miyana. Castle gives Mia a glare, stopping her celebration in fear of losing her spot. She stands quietly in the driveway, the wind coming from under the bus ruffling her dress.

"But," Castle continues, "Nani gets to pick who she sits with on the plane," he says looking at Lanie, who nods.

"Yeah and I'm only picking someone who is good and doesn't fight, or yell, or pitch a fit before we get there, alright?" Lanie tells the quints and her daughters who nod and stay quiet, realizing they are now on watch from their aunt and they all want the privilege of sitting next to her on the plane to Florida.

"Ok," Castle nods and starts to lift the kids over the high first step into the bus. Once inside, they jump around, trying to find the right spot to sit in. Two of the seats are taken by the twins' car seats, both by windows, just like they are in their regular car.

Once everyone is on the bus and sitting down, a hard thing for seven kids who are _very_ excited to go to Disney World, and all the bags have been packed up, the driver pulls out of the driveway and stops in the street.

Esposito gets out and moves his car into Castle's driveway, where it will be safer and look like someone is home, before getting back onto the bus.

They drive out of their sub-division and onto the main roads of their neighborhood, trying to get to the freeway and the airport.

"Hey Kate?" Lanie calls to her.

"Hmm?" Kate replies, turning to look at her friend.

"Isn't you dad coming with us?" she asks, wondering why Jim Beckett didn't come to the house like they did.

"Yea, he's coming. He's meeting us at the airport," Kate explains, getting a nod from Lanie in return, and turning back to the front.

With her kids happily distracted for the time being with their coloring books and other toys; Kate can finally take a breath for a minute.

From beside her, Castle takes her hand, lacing their fingers together. She squeezes their hands together and smiles at him.

"Excited?" he asks, looking at her profile.

"I am; if we can survive today, this is going to be good," she says, thinking about everything that might happen or go wrong now that they have left the house; it makes her head spin.

"Hey," he says, using his other hand to make her look at him. "It's going to be great!" His smile grows across his face; the nine year-old coming back.

She smiles back at him, excited for their trip.


	8. Leaving on a Jet Plane

**A/N: Here we go! Off to Never Land!**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

JFK is a bustle of activity, even at this early hour. But the trio manning the outdoor counter for their airline gets their group checked-in, takes care of their bags, and even manages to entertain Austin and Liam (who have gone out to help their dad and uncle), the fastest, and quite possibly the best, Kate Beckett has ever seen anyone working at this airport do.

While the boys handle check-in, Kate continues a game of 'Phone Tag' with her father. Jim had texted her saying he was at the airport and was looking for them, and Kate had replied with where they were and had not gotten a response since.

"Let's go inside; keep the kids away from the street," Lanie finally suggests.

"Yeah, that sounds good," Kate nods. "Come on! Miyana! Liam!" She wrangles all of her kids, and follows her friend inside.

"But I wanted to stay with Daddy!" Liam whines, tugging on Kate's hand to get back to his father.

"I know. But Daddy and Tio are doing grown-up stuff and I don't want them to have to worry about to getting hurt or lost," Kate explains to her son. "Okay?"

"Okay," Liam grumbles, sitting on the row of chairs they claimed.

"You know what you can do for me that would be a big help?"

"What?"

"Can you help me look for Papa? He's around here somewhere, and I need help looking for him. Can you do that for me?"

"Okay," Liam nods, sitting up straighter.

"Alright, we're all set!" Castle announces, walking up to his family, tucking his sunglasses into his shirt, Javier right behind. "Where's your dad?"

"Right here." Jim's voice makes everyone turn.

"Dad!" Kate stands, crossing to her father for a hug. "Where were you? I've been calling you."

"I must have not heard my phone," Jim answers, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket, noticing the handful of missed called from his daughter, and one from Lanie who thought maybe someone else besides Kate calling would get the lawyer to answer. "I was walking outside looking for you guys and I saw Rick and Javier, so I knew I was in the right place."

By now, the kids had noticed their grandfather had arrived and were bombarding him with hugs.

"Well we're glad you found us," Kate smiles, scooping up her carryon bag. "Alright, Ready to go?"

The adults gather their gaggle of children and head down the hallway to the security check point. The line already long, even at this early hour.

"Mommy? I have to go to the bathroom."

"Me too!"

"I'm hungry! Can we have a snack?"

The group stops before they hit the line and move over to the wall to get out of the way.

"Yes," Castle answers simply. "We're all gonna try and go to the bathroom. And we'll get a snack after we get through security, okay?" The last part was pointed at a certain little boy, who continued to whine about being _so hungry_ as his father and uncle led him and his twin into the boys' bathroom.

Because there were more of them, it took the girls longer in the bathroom and they came out to the boys, all five of them, standing along the wall, a foot up against it, arms crossed on their chests. Kate has to stop and snap a photo of them before they move and the moment is ruined.

"It took you long enough," Javi comments, pushing off the wall and scooping up his daughter.

"Yeah, we've been waiting for ever," Austin says.

"It wasn't that long," Kate insists, ruffling her son's hair.

"Yes it was, mommy," the boy insists.

"Well you know what?" Kate growls, throwing an arm around his neck and pulling him into her side as he laughs. "Come on."

With bathroom breaks had, and promises of snacks looming on the horizon, the family finally gets into the security line, and later rather than sooner they are up at the front. All their backpacks get put onto the conveyor belt, but thanks to a new TSA rule, the little kids didn't have to take their shoes off, which just expedited the process even more.

"Come on, sweetie," the woman manning their line says waving Miyana through the scanner. Being the independent child she is, Miyana confidently walks through and retrieves her backpack on the other end and stands with her grandfather who had gone through first. The process gets repeated ten more times until the entire group has cleared the security checkpoint.

"Can we get a snack now?" Liam asks, watching his dad check something on his cell phone.

Rick meets his son's eyes, the boy eager to get more food into his belly. He chuckles, pocketing his phone. "Yes, we can get a snack now."

[] []

"Attention Southwest passengers! Flight 1547 to Orlando will now begin boarding. Anyone in rows one through twenty and families with small children can line up by the sign." The intercom clicked as it was placed back in its holder and after turning off the loud speaker, the gate agent approaches their group.

"Excuse me?"

All five adults look to her, confused and nervous as to what she wants.

"Does she need that to walk?"

They follow her gaze to the windows where the kids are watching the planes come and go, to where it lands on Finn and her walker.

"Yes she does," Kate nods. "Why?"

"Well we can't have her use it getting onto or off the plane; regulations won't allow it. She can either walk on her own or we can put her in a wheel chair."

"What do you mean 'regulation won't allow it'?" Rick starts, standing to his full six feet tall. "There was nothing on your website that said my daughter wasn't allowed to use a tool to help her to lead a normal life. What am I supposed to tell her now? 'sorry baby, you can't use your walker because some rule says it's inappropriate?"

He was mad; how _dare_ they say that.

"I'm sorry sir," the agent shrinks back. "I don't make the rules, I just deliver the information." And a second later, she's gone.

"This is bull!" Esposito growls. "She is using that thing to walk, what makes them think she can get around without it?"

"I don't know," Kate agrees, shaking her head. "I guess we can let her use a wheel chair instead."

"No," Castle insists. "We're not letting someone who needs it more go without just for Nemo."

"You guys ready?" Kate calls, getting the kids' attention. They all scamper over, ready to continue on with their trip. "Here, Nemo put your back pack on." Kate helps the girl into her bag then carries her piggyback into the line after handing the folded up walker to Castle. Problem solved.

They get in line, her dad and Austin in front of them and she watches as Austin makes instant friends with the little boy in front of him, who can't be more than two year old, over the stranger's Power Ranger action figures. Jim has to physically push his grandson forward in line he gets so caught up in his game.

When she and Nemo get to the counter to have their tickets scanned, she gives the agent a look of _try it, just try it,_ but all she does is scan their tickets and wish them a safe flight before waving them onto the tunnel. She hears Monica and Esposito behind her going on about seeing Mickey Mouse, but it gets drowned out as the white noise of the plane's engine gets louder.

She makes the flight attendant repeat where their seats are because it shocks her; she can't believe it! For the first time since she's known him, and probably for most of his adult life, Rick Castle did not get seats in First Class. They're back in coach like normal people; no special treatment. Because for this trip they are just a normal family going to Disney World; they are not Richard Castle, famous mystery writer, or a world known police detective from New York, they are just Rick and Kate: regular people.

Ten minutes later they are all settled, everyone is buckled in, ready for the plane to take off. Their seats are towards the middle of the plane, close to the families with smaller kids, and slightly away from the business men who just want to be left alone. Their group occupies two rows, twelve seats in total.

On the left, in the third row is Monica Esposito in her car seat by the window, Liam Castle in the middle and Javier on the aisle. Across from them is Kate on the aisle, Lanie in middle and Danielle at the window. In front of them is Castle on the end with Austin in the middle and Jim by the window, because the little boy wanted to sit by his dad and dad didn't want to be in the middle. And across from the boys is the only row without an adult in it. The three remaining little girls: Monica at the window in her car seat, Finn on the end, and Miyana sandwiched between her cousin and sister.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome aboard! My name is Sophie and I will be one of your flight attendants today. Is there anyone here that this is their first flight?"

"Me!" Liam shouts, causing everyone around him to laugh, even the flight attendant.

"Well I'm glad you're here with us today! Our current flight time is two hours and forty three minutes, non-stop, so we should be arriving in Orlando just in time for lunch! There will be drinks served in-flight, and we will be coming around once we hit cruising altitude. Please fasten your seatbelts; we will be taking off soon. Enjoy your flight!"

They had already started taxying onto the runway by the end of the attendant's speech and the safety spiel, so it wasn't long before they began to gain speed in preparation for take-off.

"Watch out the window! You can see us go into the sky!" the parents tell their kids, looking over and around seats making sure each little body heard them.

As they started their ascent, there were plenty excited squeals and peals of laughter and exclamations, but for one little girl, it wasn't very fun.

"No! To go down! To go down, Papi! To go down!" Monica cried in her seat, stretching as far as the restraints would let her to get to the safety of her dad's arms.

"It's alright, Moni! It's alright!" Esposito said to his daughter, trying to calm her down as much as possible. He could only hold her hand without unbuckling her, so it would have to be enough. The scared little girl clung to her dad's hand with all her might, still crying about wanting 'to go down!'.

Finally, Monica had calmed down, and her freak out tired her out enough that she fell asleep pretty quickly after her tears had dried. The rest of the kids, thankfully were occupied with toys and coloring books and movies, and seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Two hours, and one accident involving a glass of juice and one Stitch-loving little girl, later the plane had landed at its destination.

"Welcome to Orlando, everyone!" the captain came over the speaker. "Local time is 11:34 and the weather is absolutely beautiful out there! 87 degrees, with seventy percent humidity; no need for coats today. Make sure you keep your seatbelts fastened until we've come to a complete stop and thanks once again for flying Southwest Airlines!

It was an ordeal getting out toe the plane trying to keep everyone together and making sure every kid was holding _someone's_ hand. Kate had Finn on her back again, and was holding Danielle's hand, walking behind her dad and Austin and Letty, of all people. But somehow they all got onto the monorail headed across the airport to the bus that would be taking them to their hotel.


	9. Hit the Road, Jack

**A/N: This chapter has been sitting on my computer since I started this story and was one of the first I wrote. It's changed a lot since it's first draft. I just thought it would be fun to see this day from another perspective.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

"Alright, everyone ready?" Kevin asks, slamming the trunk of their car and clapping his hands together. It's pretty early in the morning, and the neighborhood is still waking up, so the closing trunk echoes loudly around the street.

"No," Grace pouts, wiggling further into her grandmother's side. She doesn't want to leave! Grace loves spending time with her grandparents at their beach home in Florida; especially since the ocean isn't to far away from their front porch.

But when Mommy and Daddy told them that after their time with Mimi and Papa they would be going for a whole week to Disney World with Aunt Lanie and Uncle Javi and Aunt Kate and Uncle Rick and all of the little kids, Grace couldn't wait to leave.

The last time they had gone to Disney was when Kieran was a baby and she was just tall enough to ride the Big Kid rides and Daddy had to take her on most of them because Mommy had to stay with Kieran because he was too little. But this time; this time was better. Kieran was bigger and could go on more rides and all of their cousins would be there. It was going to be great!

But she was still sad to be leaving Mimi and Papa's house.

"You guys are going to have _so_ much fun," Mimi cheers, leading Grace to the car and helping her get buckled in while Papa does the same with her younger brother.

"I'll miss you," Grace says, her face falling.

"I'll miss you too. But we'll see each other soon." And with one more hug and kiss, Mimi turns away, making room for Grace's Papa.

"Don't be sad, little one," Papa says, using a finger to lift Grace's chin. He smiles and pulls funny faces, trying to get his granddaughter to smile, and after a minute Grace cracks a smile. "I'll see you later. I love you."

"I love you too," Grace replied, hugging her grandfather once more before he closes her door and steps away.

She can hear the muffled conversation between her parents and grandparents outside and sees them give each other hugs.

"We'll call when we get there," Jenny answers her mom's question, opening her door and getting into the passenger seat while Ryan slides into the drivers' side and turns the key in the ignition.

The first chance she gets, Grace rolls down her window.

"Bye!" She calls as they pull down the driveway and into the street.

"Bye, honey!" her grandparents call back.

Grace waves out the window until she can't see them anymore.

[] []

Two hours into their drive, Ryan pulls off the highway into a gas station. The car is quiet, the muffled dialogue from the kids' DVD player and dimmed music coming from the car speakers are the only sounds.

As he fills up, Ryan looks into the car windows. Kieran is asleep, head tilted against the side of his car seat; Jenny is also napping, using the strap of her seat belt as a makeshift pillow. Behind his wife, Grace is still awake, listening to the movie and concentrating on the picture she is coloring on her lap.

"Hey, Gracie," Kevin whispers, getting his daughter's attention. "Do you want to come with me?"

"Yeah," she replies, slipping her marker back into its case and reaching over for the catch of her seatbelt.

Father and daughter meet at the back of the SUV, and Kevin takes Grace's hand as they walk across the busy parking lot.

A chiming bell marks their entrance into the convenience store, and they make a beeline for the bathrooms at the back.

"Meet me out here, okay?" He asks, and his eight year old nods, turning into the women's bathroom while he enters the men's across the hall.

She's waiting against the wall when he comes out of the bathroom, arms crossed on her chest, people watching as patrons come and go from the store.

"Ready? Let's go pick a snack." He lays a hand on her shoulder as they start to walk.

"Can I get pop?" the girl asks, knowing that she's normally not allowed to have the carbonated drink.

"Yeah, sure. Why not," Kevin shrugs, heading over to the coolers and picks out drinks for himself and his wife while his daughter decides on her own.

Grace grabs a Cherry Coke for herself and a Spiderman juice for her little brother because if she's not allowed to have pop, then Kieran is _really_ not allowed. Even if it is a special vacation treat.

After they had picked their drinks, the duo wander the aisles grabbing packets of chips and Goldfish and bags of candy to complete their snack run. The lady at the counter rings up their order, and then they head back to the car to hit the road again.

[] []

"Grace Jennifer! Leave your brother alone," Jenny scolds her daughter.

Kieran had woken up from his nap in a very foul mood, and his sister bugging him was not helping in the least to bring him out of it.

"But he's taking my markers!" Grace argues.

"Then you need to share with him.'

"But he has his own! Why can't he use those? Why does he have to use mine?!"

"Share with your brother or I'm taking them away."

The only response Jenny gets is a huffed breath, and she sighs, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

[] []

"How much longer!?"

She's whining; everyone knows it.

The adults in the car share an annoyed eye roll at the routine that had been going on for the past ninety minutes.

"Fifteen minutes," Ryan answers, changing lanes.

"How long is that!?"

"Half an episode of 'Bug Juice'," he says, using Grace's favorite television show as a measurement of time.

"Ugh! That's forever!"

[] []

Five minutes later, Grace was too occupied spotting the signs and billboards that had been popping up along the road to be bored.

"Look! Another one! See? Kieran, look! It's Mickey Mouse!"

The siblings, now over their earlier tiff, look excitedly out their windows for the signs that keep getting closer and closer together as they get nearer to their destination.

"Look, mommy! It's Mickey Mouse!" Kieran shouts.

"I see, baby," Jenny replies, reveling in her son's enthusiasm.

As the GPS starts giving them final directions to their hotel, they drive under the sign heralding: "Disney World: The Happiest Place on Earth." And the kids go absolutely nuts. They are so excited that after so long in the car they are finally there.

A couple more turns, and Kevin is pulling up the driveway to their hotel: Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge. Instantly they are immersed in a whole new world; they're not in Florida anymore, they are pulling into an African village, getting set to go on safari and look for rhinos and elephants.

Grace is the first to take off her seatbelt and get out, her mom right behind, as her dad parks under the overhang. A pair of staff members rush over to meet them, smiles plastered on their faces.

"Hello! Jambo!" one of them says, shaking Jenny's hand before moving to Grace. "Jambo, Princess," he smiles to her. "'Jambo' means 'hello' or 'welcome' in Swahili."

"Hi," Grace says, suddenly shy.

"Hello!" The other of the pair had gone to help Kevin with their bags and was slapping five with a now happy Kieran, the two already becoming fast friends.

"Aye! This one is coming with us," the second Cast Member says, pushing a luggage cart with the family's suitcases on it, pointing to Kieran, who is smiling.

"No!" Grace shouts, rushing to her brother's side and taking his hand. "You can't have him." The adults laugh at her, but Grace is being totally serious, not picking up on the humor.

"It's alright, little Princess," the first one, who had talked to her, says. "You little brother is not going anywhere."

They follow the two up to the curb, where they tell them where to go to check in, and their bags go one way and the Ryan family goes another.

"Don't we have to take out stuff up to our room, dad?" Grace asks, watching their black suitcases be wheeled out of her sight. That's the way they always do it when they stay at other hotels. So why not here?

"Nope, they are gonna bring them up for us," Kevin answers, looking around the enormous lobby for the rest of their group.


	10. A Room With a View

Getting checked in was the easy part: sign a few forms, answer some questions, push a button and activate all their Magic Bands; easy peasy. Corralling the kids long enough to get their Magic Bands on them, that's the hard part. They were all too excited and enjoying themselves playing and exploring the enormous lobby of their hotel to stop even for the ten seconds to get the bracelet on.

But one by one, every person, big and small, in their group got a Magic Band clipped around their wrist, which gave them the Power. Literally. Those bracelets could do anything: open their hotel room, enable them to buy anything they desired. It was their access card to rides and shows, and most importantly: it got them into every single park.

Thankfully, for the Castle kids' sake, their Magic Bands were all different colors _and_ their names were printed on the inside; this would hopefully reduce the amount of squabbles over whose band was whose, which was bound to happen even with different colors.

After twenty minutes where the parents rested for five seconds after a long travel day, and the kids continued to explore and watch the movie that was playing in a secluded corner, the individual families gathered up their kids and split off to get settled into their rooms.

"Hey, dude, wanna go see our room?" Kate asks, coming over to her son who was banging on a drum under the watchful eye of a very kind and patient Cast Member.

"Five more minutes?" Liam asks, looking up to her with those big, blue eyes he inherited from his father and older sister.

"One more minute," Kate answers, steeling him with a look. "I'm gonna go get Tin and Nemo and them you're done, okay?"

"Okay," the boy nods, already back to his solo.

It doesn't take Kate long to find Austin and Finn as they were headed in her direction.

"We didn't see any animals," Austin sighs dejectedly, hugging Kate's arm.

"Daddy said there would be lots to see," Finn adds.

She looks over she son's head to the giant window that stood as center piece of the lobby and looked out over one of the three savannas on the property. Kate could tell, even from where she stood that there were no animals to be found.

"Maybe they are getting food or a drink of water," she suggests, turning back to the drums.

"Yeah, maybe," Austin shrugs.

"Liam, let's go," Kate reminds her son, who was still banging away on the drum. "Say thank you," Kate orders as her son starts to walk away with his twin.

The boy turns around and thanks the Cast Member with a smile.

"You are welcome, little one," he replies. "Come back and play anytime."

"Oh, he'll take you up on that offer," Kate chuckles under her breath, heading back to her family.

"Ready?" Castle asks, once everyone has been gathered up.

"Let's go," Kate nods.

They catch the next elevator car and manage to all fit inside, even with Finn's walker. There is a family waiting for the elevator as they reach their floor and the two make a switch: one on, one off, without losing anyone.

Rick counts doors down the hallway, searching for their room.

"I wanna push the button!" Danielle says, racing to the front.

"I'm gonna do it first," Rick says, grabbing his daughter's hand.

"No!" she whines.

"But everyone is gonna get a turn," he reassures, squeezing Danielle's hand.

"Okay."

Castle holds his band to the sensor on the door, and a second later a click sounds, a green light shows and they are granted access to the room.

Screaming, and squealing and five little bodies racing around fill the room as the quintuplets explore their new home for the next week.

The first thing they see when they walk in is a bathroom: two sinks, tub/shower combo and a toilet, nothing too fancy, but it gets the job done. Immediately to their right is the second bedroom: two queen sized beds, desk, night stand, TV hung on the wall and a large, sunny window. To the left, a short hallway leads to a bar area with stools, and opens to the main living area. A couch (that folds out into another queen sized bed), coffee table, fluffy armchair, TV hung on the wall, a kitchen table with a bench on one side and a pair of chairs on the other, and a large window and sliding glass door that leads out to their balcony. Across from the living room, behind the bar, is the kitchen with full sized appliances (stove, oven, dishwasher, and fridge) and a closet that hides a pack-and-play and a high chair. The last room in their suite, which will belong to Rick and Kate, is the master bedroom. Looking the same as the other bedroom, in terms of décor, the only differences were a King sides bed instead of a queen, and a sliding door out to the balcony. The master bathroom was absolutely gorgeous! Beautiful tile decorated the floor and shower, and there was a beautiful bathtub along one side, two sinks, separated by a lower vanity counter in the middle, and the shower, which looked amazing.

Their bags had already arrived and were sitting in the bedrooms along with the kids' backpacks. The kids' prized stuffed animals were lined up on the beds in the second bedroom, happy and ready for their trip. It was a sweet touch that the Bag Boys didn't have to do, but they did anyway; going above what they were asked to do: extra kudos in Rick Castle's book.

Jim had led his grandkids out onto the long balcony and was pointing out the different animals they could see. Rick and Kate could hear their screams and squeals from inside, and took a minute to watch out the window; to admire how lucky and blessed they are to have the life and the family (blood related and not) that they have.

"Daddy! Mommy! Look!"

That was their cue. The parents stepped outside and followed their kids' hands as they pointed to the animals grazing on the plants in the clearing below them.

"It's a baby one!" Miyana cheers, pointing to a smaller giraffe among the others.

"I think it is," Rick nods, lifting his daughter so she could see the baby better, sandwiching her between the metal railing and his stomach.

They are on no timetable that day, no places they absolutely have to be at a specific time, so they stay and watch the animals a little longer. But after a while, the kids' attention starts to wander and they start to lose interest.

A suggestion of going swimming is proposed and met with great enthusiasm.

[] []

"Our room has bunk beds!" Grace Ryan announces as she jogs over to the grouping of chairs they had claimed near the pool.

"They do?" Kate asks, intrigued.

"Yeah! And I get the top bunk and Kieran gets the bottom cause he too little to sleep that high, but I'll let him come up if he wants to."

"That's pretty cool," Kate says, watching as her niece slips off her swim cover and flip flops, turns and runs for the pool. Grace squeals as she jumps and hits the water with a spectacular splash.

The other kids follow, copying their cousin's jump; though Monica and Kieran take a bit mo0re coaxing as they are not a comfortable in the water as the other kids. But eventually they are in the pool, floaty vests and all.

"Dad! Come swim with me!"

And the dominos begin to fall.

"Daddy! Can you throw me?"

"Me too!"

"Me first!"

"No, me first!"

"Don't splash me! Mommy! Miyana splashed me!"

"Be nice or you're not swimming at all!" Kate threatens.

"Papi! Venga!"

"I'll be there in a minute," Javier answers his daughter.

The adults know the kids won't leave them alone until all of their dads are in the pool with them, so after ordering drinks at the pool bar, the guys pull off their shirts and join the kids in the pool.

They spend the rest of the night migrating from the pool to their chairs for food and drink.

The dads toss the kids repeatedly, and even attempt some tricks on the willing ones that freak out the mom's that they have to force themselves to look when their child calls "Mommy look!"

By the time it's time to get out, everyone is tired and happy and Monica has gotten more comfortable in the pool thanks to Liam's goggles and careful coaching from her Uncle Rick; she's not death gripping the wall anymore.

[] []

The night goes pretty quickly once they are back in their room. Everyone gets showers, slathers lotion all over their bodies and changes into pajamas. Hair is brushed and braided, and teeth are scrubbed.

The kids are getting their beds set up: Austin and Liam in the second bedroom that they are sharing with their grandfather, and the girls take over the living room on the queen sized pull-out couch bed. Jim and Kate head out onto the balcony while Rick showers and the kids watch a show before bed.

"Tonight was fun: nice and easy before we're so busy the rest of the week," Kate says.

"It was," Jim nods.

"You ready to ride the rollercoasters tomorrow, dad?"

"I don't know, Katie," Jim questions, listening to his daughter laugh. "I'm an old man, can't handle those rides like I used too."

"Don't worry: if Thunder Mountain is too intense for you we'll find a nice bench for you to ride."

Jim picked up on his daughter's humor and chuckles. "I think I can manage," he nods, adding a dash of sarcasm to his voice.

"I love you dad," Kate laughs, hugging Jim.

"I love you too, Katie."

A minute later Rick comes out from his shower, hair still damp, dressed in a t shirt and soft pajama pants.

The animals outside their window seem to be more active, so they sit and watch for a while, listening to the sounds the animals make mixed with people settling in for the night and the last few stragglers coming in from the pool.

"We'd better get to bed," Rick says, breaking the moment. It's only just past ten, but they have reservations for breakfast, and have to get up early to make it.

"Yeah, you're right," Jim nods, standing and creeping into the room, past the girls and into the second bedroom where he readies for bed as quiet as he can. Rick and Kate have the luxury of no kids in their room (yet) and can move around a little louder than Jim can.

An hour later the only sounds in the suite are the air conditioner coming to life and eight bodies breathing in their sleep.


	11. Ohana Style

**A/N: So this was supposed to be posted on the actual 'Stitch Day' (6/26), but that obviously didn't happen. But I hope you guys will still enjoy it anyway.**

* * *

"Hey, you guys ready to get dressed?" Kate peeks her head out of the master bedroom of their suite, her hair wet, having just gotten out of the shower, onto the balcony that overlooked one of the savannas in the middle. Their morning view included Zebras, various types of birds, and Okapi.

All five kids were standing at the ledge, on tiptoe, watching the animals roam and play and graze on the grass. They were still in their pajamas, morning breath and sleep ruffled hair and all.

"Yes!" Miyana was the first to turn around. This morning they were headed to a character breakfast that was picked mostly with her in mind. "It's Stitch day!" She cheers, rushing inside to the second bedroom. She rips open her suitcase and digs through, throwing the other clothes haphazardly out of the bag, looking for a very specific outfit to wear.

When she finds it, she stuffs the other clothes back inside and tears off her pajamas. Mia changes into the shirt and skirt set in record time and scampers to her parent's bedroom.

After knocking, and getting allowed entrance, Mia bursts through the door, excitement and energy filling her tiny body. "Ready!" she cheers.

"Not so fast there, Speed Racer," Kate admonishes her daughter. "You're gonna have to wait for everyone to finish getting ready.

Miyana sulks at that; she's too excited to wait.

"Come here, let me fix your hair." Kate leads her daughter over to the vanity and sits her down on the padded bench seat. She brushes out the tangles, of which there are many, braids two sections back and adds them to a high pony tail. "There: all done," Kate proclaims, tugging on the ponytail to tighten it one last time. "Now, go brush your teeth," she orders, pointing her daughter in the direction of the bathroom and her toothbrush.

Miyana, hair and teeth brushed, socks and shoes on, is the first one of her family ready to go.

"Wow, look at you, Mia!" Jim admires, tying on his shoes, watching as the girl twirls in front of him, showing off her outfit.

"Isn't it so cool?" The girl asks.

"Very cool," Jim nods.

Miyana's shirt was light blue, like water, and had Stitch and his Human friend, Lilo, standing on a surf board, riding the waves; and her skirt was divided right down the middle, one side was patterned to look like the Blue alien's skin, and the other was the pattern on Lilo's signature red dress.

Soon enough, everyone is ready, and after grabbing room keys, sunglasses, and the park bag that had been packed the night before, all eight family members head downstairs to rendezvous with the rest of their group before heading to their breakfast reservation.

[] []

The monorail ride over to the hotel was just enough to keep the nine crabby, hungry kids in their group from melting down long enough for them to get to their breakfast. They liked looking out the windows and watching the world below them zip past, and the little girls nearly lost it when they went past the castle in the Magic Kingdom.

"Are we really going there?" Danielle asks, looking up at her dad.

"Yup, after we eat breakfast," Rick answers.

Soon the train is pulling into its stop and the doors are sliding open. They swarm out in one large blob, kids in strollers and holding hands with adults, and two little girls lead the pack inside the hotel.

"Grace! Go left!" Ryan directs his daughter who is up front with Miyana. The girls disappear around a corner for a moment, but they are never out of the adults' sight for too long.

"Aloha! Welcome to Ohana!" The girl behind the counter welcomes them.

"Hi!" Mia cheers. "It's Stitch day!"

"Are you here to meet Stitch?" The girl asks.

"Mmhm," Mia nods enthusiastically.

"That's awesome! Can I have your name?"

"Castle," Rick's reply has the girls' turning to face the grown-up. "Reservation is under Castle."

The girl taps on her computer for a moment then nods. "Here you are," she checks them in and grabs one of the pagers. "We're getting your table ready right now; it will just be a few more minutes. Can you hold on to this?" She asks, bending down and handing the pager to Kieran, who had materialized next to his older sister and cousin. "When it lights up, you come back and give this to me and you can go eat, okay?"

"Okay," Kieran nods, taking the pager and rushing over to his mom, hollering about what he gets to do.

After a game of chase gets then yelled at by a Cast Member and their parents, the kids settle down into a more controlled chaos, and before long their pager goes off and they are escorted back to their table.

[] []

There is a momentary scramble for seats and kids wanting to sit next to a specific person, but eventually they all get settled. The large dining room was filled with families much like there's: up too early, hungry, but excited to experience this meal and to enjoy the day that followed it.

Their waitress, Katie (the name made every adult at the table hide giggles, and caused Jim to smiles sheepishly at his daughter), got them going with glasses of 'Stitch Juice' and a basket of bread and pastries. She left, but returned quickly with plates and silverware, and after telling them she'd give them a minute, left to tend to her other tables.

Multiple conversations could be heard across the table: adults with kids, kids with kids, adults with adults; it was loud and happy. Cameras flashed as pictures were taken, some candid, most were posed with kids and adults alike smiling at the lens.

Finally, food was served; family style with two large platters at either end of the table. Eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, waffles; the whole nine yards.

"Here, Mia, hand me your plate," Kate directs her daughter seated to her left. The girl hands over the plate and Kate loads it full of Mia's choices. When the plate it set in front of her, Miyana gasps.

"Daddy! Look!" she shouts down to the opposite end of the table where her father is sitting. "I got a Stitch waffle!" Rick looks up to his daughter who is holding up the waffle emblazoned with her very favorite character on it.

"I see! Very cool, Mia girl," He smiles back.

Once everyone has full plates of food, their table goes quiet; everyone occupied with stuffing their faces rather than making conversation. Katie checks on them a few times: refilling juice and coffee cups, bringing new platters of food, and just making sure they are doing alright.

In the middle of their meal, the characters start to come around, and the first to greet them is Mickey Mouse, dressed in a Hawaiian shirt, he looked ready for the beach. The older kids were quick to jump up and get hugs as their parents snapped photos. Even the grown-ups got in on the action: there was a picture caught of Lanie kissing the famous mouse on the cheek and Esposito feigning hurt and anger on his other side. While most of the kids loved it, three of them were having none of it. Kieran, Letty and Monica were buried in their parent's sides as much as the possibly could; whining and crying and saying "No!" And despite their parents' attempts to get them up and over to the characters passing by, it was unsuccessful.

The same routine was performed with Pluto, Minnie and Lilo, and finally the character Miyana Castle has been excitedly waiting for came to their table.

"Stitch!" Mia was the very first to rush over and crush the blue alien with a hug. "Look! You're on my shirt." She points out, touching the picture on her top. Stitch silently, happily, admires himself on the little girl's shirt, hugging her again before moving on to her siblings and cousins. Mia stays close, in a bit of disbelief that her favorite character is right there where she can touch him.

Finally, after one more hug, Stitch left and the kids returned to the table to finish their food. But Miyana barely picked at what was left on her plate, she was still buzzing.

"Mommy," she sighed, leaning into her mom's arm.

"Wasn't that so cool?" Kate asks, kissing the crown of her daughter head, and smoothing out the hairs she had mused.

"It was amazing! The best!" Mia replied excitedly.

"I'm glad, baby girl."

[] []

Everyone had eaten their fill, the check was paid, and a tip was left for their amazing waitress. After a trip to the bathroom, and going on a wild goose hunt for Kieran, who took a wrong turn coming out of the bathroom and had gotten lost, they stood on the monorail platform with a handful of other people waiting for the train to take them into the park.

"Look, we got a yellow one this time," Liam comments as the train slows in to the station and the door slide open. He goes for the window again, sitting on his knees on the bench, the other kids in a line next to him.

The electronic voice reminds them to "stand clear, the doors are closing," and a moment later they are zipping along the track headed off to get lost in their imaginations.


	12. First Day, First Park, First Ride

This was the moment he had been waiting for. When movie becomes reality and his kids become absorbed in the magical orah that is Disney World.

And he can tell the exact second it happens, too.

"Daddy! It's the castle! Look! It's Cinderella's castle!"

"I see, baby," Castle says, crouching down next to his daughter. The awe and wonder on her face makes his whole body sparkle and buzz; he's so happy that she's so happy.

"Alright: what first?" Esposito asks, a map held in front of him. That cues all the adults to converge together for a quick pow-wow. Though they do have a few set rides and activities they already got Fast Passes for, the day is pretty much theirs to control.

"I was thinking we start left and work our way around? And whatever we don't hit, we get next time?" Jenny says, pulling her hair up into a high ponytail. Everyone agrees, so they get stroller kids into strollers and hold the hands of the ones that want to walk, and start down Main Street.

About halfway down, they get stopped by a photographer who offers to take their picture in front of the castle. It's like herding cattle, but eventually, they all get set and the photographer counts down from three, they all smiles and their picture is snapped.

Ryan thanks the man, and after getting his Magic Band scanned to get their photo connected to his account, they continue on, the kids shouting and pointing out everything they see.

"Daddy! I want her Minnie ears!"

"Momma? Where is Belle?"

"I have to go to the bathroom."

"Me too!"

That was one of the perks of having so many adults along on this trip: one could take a kid (or a couple) to the bathroom without making the entire group stop. So while Jenny took Grace and Danielle to the bathroom, the rest of their group continued on into Adventureland.

They walk under the sign and were instantly transported into a new world: part jungle, part shopping bazaar; it was full of bright colors and sounds, and not as many people as Kate was expecting there to be.

The first stop was the Aladdin Flying Carpet ride.

"Hop out, Liam," Kate says to her son as she parks their stroller. The boy stands, takes his mom's hand, and walks with her into line behind his siblings and cousins. Kate watches as her kids copy most of the other kids in line and hang off the fences and chains that make up the queue. No one around them seems too bothered by it, and no one is fighting or hurt (yet), so she lets them play.

The line moves, and eventually, they step out of the sun and under and an awning that, despite the heat, provides them with a bit of cover from the summer sun. The line moves even more and they are close enough to watch the groups in front of them get on and off and watch as they fly in their own magic carpets.

"The camel spits!" Austin cheers. "Look, Momma! The camel spits!" Kate looks to where her son is pointing and watches closely as the camel statues spit out a stream of water right into unsuspecting patrons faces.

"Oh! That is mean!" Kate laughs.

"No, it's cool," Austin counters, stepping forward as the line moves.

They watch the groups in front of them ride and laugh when they get spit on by the naughty camel, and when their turn comes, the kids hop onto the magic carpets guessing who will be camel's next victim. The ride starts so spin and Kate listens to Austin and Kieran squeal with glee next to her as their uncle, who is seated in front of them with his daughters, takes them higher and higher in the air.

In the end, it is Finn and her Uncle Kevin, along with a few strangers, who get hit with 'camel spit', but if the girl's surprised laughter is any indication, she loved it.

After collecting their strollers, the family continues their lap around the park. The hit up Jungle Cruise next, and after their 'tour guide' fires off two fake gunshots, both Esposito girls dissolve into fits of tears that makes the other hot, annoyed families in their boat turn and give them the dirtiest looks.

Kate scoops Letty out of her mom's arms and sets her on the bench next to her. They're on the outside, which gives them a perfect view of the animals. "Cia, look. Look at the elephants!"

"No!" The girl cries, still scared.

"Look at the baby one," Kate continues, pointing out the baby elephants playing in the water. "Look how cute it is!"

Letty's cries slow to hiccups and eventually stop altogether, her attention on the animals her aunt is pointing out.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Their guide, Nicholas, cries. "I present to you, the ninth wonder of the world: The Backside of Water!" They cruise past the reverse side of the waterfall they had passed moments before and Kate laughs at the horrible joke. They go through an ancient temple, encounter headhunters and even find a tiger. And as they pull up to the dock, Nicholas gives them one final instruction: get out.

"Austin, Mia, go in front of me," Kate says, nudging her kids ahead of her out of the ride and onto the main road, Letty in her arms.

"I don't wanna do that again," Letty says, eyes set, over the thumb in her mouth.

"Don't worry, baby. You won't have to do it again, I promise," Kate tells her, kissing her cheek. "Keep walking guys," Kate encourages the kids. They leave their strollers parked and walk the short distance to their first Fast Pass: Pirates of the Caribbean. They zip through the queue, pausing a few times to look at the decorations.

"This is where they keep the bad guys, mommy," Austin says to her, pointing out the barred off rooms hidden at just his height.

"It is?"

"Uh huh. And then they have to stay there forever and ever!"

"Really? Forever and ever? So how do they go to the bathroom?"

Her son laughs at that, giving her a look of astonishment. "They have a hole in the ground."

Now it's Kate's turn to laugh. "Maybe they do," she nods.

They're at the end of the line, waiting for the previous passengers to get off before they can get on. When the gate swings open, Kate lifts her son onto the bench, "All the way to the end, buddy," steps in herself and turns around to help the other kids in her row.

Jenny, Grace, Miyana, Kieran and Jim have the row in front of them (the front row), while she has both of her boys, Finn, Monica and Lanie; and the others find seats behind. The boat lurches forward, causing everyone to gasp and the little kids to shriek, but once they get going, everyone becomes absorbed in yet another world.

"Dead men tell no tales!" says the floating head above them as they float through a curtain of smoke. The kids on either side of her hide in her armpits when they go through the dark parts, and her ear drums ring with their screams as they go down the short drop, but once they're in the lighter parts they are looking again, totally excited. Especially when they get splashed by water as the cannonballs hit.

Kate is just as mesmerized as they kids are; it's been a long time since she'd gone to a Disney park and everything looked totally new and different to her. Every display and scene, though she remembers it, looks new and shiny. The prisoners trying to bribe the dog, the guys chasing the Bar Wrench, all the gold; it's all new.

Except for the song.

That didn't change.

"Yo ho, yo ho, as Pirate's life for me!" All the adults sang happily.

"Look, mom! Look! It's Jack Sparrow!" she hears Grace shout, and Kate turns quickly to look but misses it as they drive past.

"Welcome back, Travelers! Please exit to your right, and watch your step!" the Cast Member instructs them as they end their journey.

"That was the best ride ever! Austin shouts, following the crowd out of the building and back outside where they all have to squint against the sudden, bright sunlight.

"It was pretty great, wasn't it?" Kate asks, steering him left and back to their strollers.

"Yes! I liked the gun fight, remember mommy?"

"I remember."

"And we got splashed. And then the guy was dead! All that was left was his bones!"

[][]

They make use of the 'Child Swap' program on the next ride: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. And as they are standing in line, he realized that this might actually be his kids' first roller coaster.

"Kate!" Castle shouts, turning around on the stairs to face his wife. "Is this their first roller coaster?"

Kate's brow furrows for a moment before her jaw drops. "I think it is. Oh my god!"

"This should be interesting." It's not much longer and they are stepping into the train car. Grace is in front of him with Liam, and Finn gets to be his buddy on this one. "You ready, Nemo?" He asks, pulling the lap bar down over them?"

"I'm scared," she confesses, wrapping her arm around his.

"There's nothing to be scared of! This one is fun!" Castle smiles down at her. His daughter is not so sure and spends a good chunk of the ride hiding in his arm, but when she does look at and pay attention, she's smiling and laughing and enjoying herself. Grace teacher Liam to hold his arms up as they go down the hills, and Castle laugh at his son who keeps one arm in the air and the other gripped tightly on the safety bar.

"So what did you think?" Castle asks Finn when they finish.

"It was fun!" she smiles.

"You liked it?"

"Yeah," she nods.

"What about you guys?" He asks, the kids in front of him

"That was awesome!" Grace cheers.

"I didn't like the explosions," Liam says. "But it was really fun!"

"You wanna go again?" Castle asks all three of them. To which he gets all 'yes's'. Kate and Jim catch up with them as they walk out, and ask the kids the same questions. "How was it?" Castle asks his father-in-law.

"Oh, it was fun," Jim smiles. "I haven't been on a rollercoaster in a long time. Not since Katie was a kid."

There's a quick switch off to let Lanie, Esposito, Jenny and Ryan and the other three Castle kids go on. Grace decides to go again and follows her parents. Rick sees her team up with Danielle and smiles as they disappear.

Ten minutes later, their second group comes out, most of them with smiles. Miyana, being carried by her Tio, is crying and sobs louder when she gets to her mom.

"I don't wanna do that again!" She cries, falling into her mom's hug.

"Okay, baby," Kate soothes. "It's okay."

[] []

With breakfast being so early, once Miyana has calmed down, the hungry family heads off to find lunch. They stake out a few picnic tables hidden in a corner and give their order to the three adults who volunteered to go find food. The others who stay back take shifts of bathroom breaks and attempts to wrangle the kids who are both energized and tired and cranky at the same time.

"Nemo! Come sit down, please," Kate calls to her daughter.

"But daddy is coming!" Finn replies, spying her dad walking down the road, a tray in his hands.

"I know. Come sit down so you're ready to eat when your food gets here." As soon as they words leave her mouth, the food arrives. "Whoa! What all did you get?" Kate gasps.

"Everything," Rick says, not exaggerating. Tray cover their table carrying burgers, corn dogs, chicken strips, French fries, pretzels, pb&j sandwiches, even a few of the famous Giant Turkey Legs.

"Okay," Kate laughs, setting to work doling out the food, making sure everyone gets what they wanted. Lanie handed out napkins and helps pass food to kids, and Castle passes out drinks, each with its owner's name written on it so the same colored cup don't get mixed up because _God forbid_ one kid not end up with the exact cup they had before.

"You want a bite?" Kate asks, handing over a bit of her turkey leg to her son who gobbles it up and asks for another. The two end up splitting the dish, the younger forgetting about his perfectly good chicken strips.

It seems as though everyone was settled and happy and eating when Danielle shouts.

"Alexis! Look! It's Alexis!"


End file.
